RWBY: Deathwatch
by ChiefD3m0n1c
Summary: There is more to Remnant than the public knows, dark secrets kept for good reason. But when Team RWBY discovers one of these secrets, they are dragged into a world kept hidden by a group of disgraced fighters known simply as the Deathwatch. RWBY with a touch of Warhammer 40k. Rated M for violence, language, and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

This was an idea I had when I got a game box of Warhammer (I know, I'm a nerd) and I figured it could get a pretty good story, especially when added with the RWBYverse. So, here's the first chapter of my idea, RWBY: Deathwatch.

Chapter 1: A New Breed

It was Friday night, and Team RWBY wanted to have a fun night out on the town. Ruby had the lead while Weiss followed behind and Yang and Blake taking up the rear. They were excited to have a chance to go out and have fun as a team since they were almost always busy with school. It was really more of a stress relief for them, so all of them were happy to go out.

"So, what are you guys feeling like doing?" Ruby questioned as she practically skipped down the sidewalk. She really didn't care what they would do, as long as they did it together.

"We could go to a book store." Blake suggested as they walked. Yang chuckled and elbowed her in the side a bit.

"You always want to go to a bookstore." Yang chuckled, causing everyone to chuckle as well. The group continued to laugh until something jumped into the light at the end of the street. All of the girls stopped to observe the creature since they had a very clear look at the creature. It stood at least six feet tall and had black skin that nearly blended in with the night. What really stood out was the white shell that was on its back and the fact the creature had four arms.

It had legs that bent backwards like a dog's while the hands had five fingers, four fingers fused together to make two. The red eyes scoured the area until they landed on the girls, all of them immediately going for their weapons. The creature lowered itself to the ground, ready to charge them, but suddenly gunfire started hitting the ground around the creature, throwing it off its balance. All of the girls held position as the creature darted off down the street it was initially running down. Almost immediately after, a group of people ran after the creature.

The girls watched as the group of varying individuals chased the creature, one taking a knee and firing off a few rounds before getting back up and resuming the chase. The team looked at each other, obviously very confused about what just happened.

"What the hell?" Yang questioned quietly, the sound of gunfire starting to gain distance. The girls started to move, but kept their distance in case the group was hostile to everyone. They peered around the corner, seeing the group continuing down the street, weapons still firing.

"Are they Huntsman and Huntresses?" Ruby questioned since the group was half and half. They continued down the street after the group, still not wanting to get too close. The chase continued for about half an hour before they finally stopped running, the group huddled around a manhole cover. Team RWBY started to slink closer, starting to hear more of their conversation, and start to see the individuals a bit more. The tallest was a large young man who seemed to enjoy lifting at the gym.

He was wearing a yellow t-shirt with black jeans and a white ball cap and carried, what looked like, a large black box with a cannon on the end. A large belt of copper canisters hung from the side of the cannon, as well as the large backpack on the guy's back. The next was a woman who looked to be in her late 20s and was from the Orient of Remnant. She wore a white shirt and pants with a red jacket. She had long black hair that was tied back into a pony tail. She also carried a long, curved blade in her left hand and a pistol in the right.

The third was a young man, probably close to the yellow shirt man, who was wearing black pants, a grey shirt and red jacket. The forearms of the jacket were torn to shreds, probably because of the large retractable blade gauntlets on his arms. They were similar in shape to Yang's Ember Celica, only his were bigger and took up his entire forearm. The main body was red while the outer edges were black and the blades a dull gray. The final girl was tall, standing about 6'1", and had short blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail.

She wore a black t-shirt and jeans and carried a belt with several magazines that seemed to have different forms of ammunition. The assault rifle she carried was similar to the ones Atlas soldiers used, only hers was more of a dull metal as opposed to the white and blue of Atlas.

"You sure it went down here?" The blonde questioned in a flat, almost mechanical tone. The guy in the ball cap gave a look that seemed a little offended at the question.

"I know what I saw, Ledi (Lead-ee). The thing crawled down this manhole." Ball Cap replied in an offended tone.

"I am just making sure, Gevehr (Geh-veer). We can't afford any mistakes when we are this close to finding the Brood."

"Come on, ease up on him. He's the gunner, not the leader." The man in the red jacket stated as he looked down the manhole. "He's meant to shoot, not think."

"Thanks Gray." Gevehr grumbled, clearly sounding unsure of whether to appear thankful or insulted. Grey lightly punched Gevehr in the arm, the two chuckling while Ledi appeared completely unamused. She was about to talk when the Oriental woman looked like she was developing a headache, putting two fingers to her right temple.

"What is it, Unahk (Ooo-nah-kuh)?" Ledi questioned, her tone still flat even though it seemed like a question of concern.

"I'm fine. Shonkhor (Sh-aw-n-k-oar) spotted a few Gen 3s on bikes. Seems they're heading out of the city." Unahk reported, putting her sword on her back and pistol on her hip.

"That presents a problem. Go after them and we'll handle the Brood. We have more than enough force between the three of us. I trust you can handle them?"

"I'm insulted you even asked."

"I don't care. Get your bike and go handle the Gen 3s. If they get out of the city then they're gone."

Unahk rolled her eyes and started running down the street, Team RWBY hiding behind a dumpster as she ran by. The team leaned back out, Ruby pointing at Yang and then at the woman, signaling for her to start tailing her. Yang nodded and went after the woman while the remaining three watched the others jump into the manhole. The remaining members waited for a moment before emerging from their hiding spot and then jumping down into the sewers.

O00000O00000O

Yang followed the woman down the street to the same parking garage she kept her motorcycle, Bumblebee, at. Yang hid behind a vehicle as the woman approached a black bike that seemed like it was armed for war. It was a muscle bike, meant to look as mean as the person that was riding it, not speed like Bumblebee. There was a shield and scabbard on the left side with a few canisters with handles on the top of them. The woman put the blade she carried in the scabbard and grabbed the helmet that sat on the seat.

Yang snuck around and got to Bumblebee as she heard the other motorcycle start up, the engine roaring to life. Yang jumped on her bike and started it up, doing her best to be quick and stealthy. Luckily for her, there wasn't anyone else on the road and Yang already knew where they were heading. Yang spotted the black bike and followed her onto the highway. The highway was just a little more populated than the streets, so it was still pretty easy to follow the woman.

Yang then spotted the woman's targets, five people on motorcycles that were going well beyond the speed limit. The woman sped up to catch them, and Yang did the same to follow. She finally caught up to the woman, the two looking over at each other for a minute. The woman then hit a switch on her handlebars, two assault rifles emerging on the front of the bike. The two looked forward to see one of the men turn back and start firing a machine pistol at them.

The two swerved to avoid getting shot, lucky that no one else was near them. The woman hit another switch on her handlebars and the assault rifles started firing. The other bikes started to swerve and fire machine pistols themselves, turning the highway into a warzone. Yang swerved and fired off a round from her shotgun gauntlet, Ember Celica, and nailed the back wheel of a motorcycle. The bike flipped and the guy started to roll on the ground, the other woman swerved and drew her pistol.

As she swerved towards him, she fired off several rounds and hit the guy every time, two bullets hitting him in the head. Yang wasn't sure if the man deserved to die, but right now wasn't the time to question moral decisions when they were getting shot at. The woman holstered her pistol and went back to firing the vehicle mounted assault rifles at the other bikes, Yang joining in and firing her gauntlets. The woman fired off a burst from her rifles, the rounds tearing through the man like he was paper. The bike wobbled and fell over, rolling and crashing with only three bikes remaining.

The last three finally stopped firing since they ran out of ammunition and were forced to reload. This gave Yang and the woman a chance to close the distance and get some better shots on the men. Yang was the first since her bike was built for speed and blasted one of the guys, nailing him right in the arm. The man howled in pain as he held out his stump, and to Yang's shock blood wasn't spewing from the missing limb. Familiar black smoke poured from the limb, the same that would happen when you dismembered Grimm.

Yang reared back and fired another blast, nailing the thing in the head and sending the bike flying. The woman finally caught up and started blasting rounds at another bike, eviscerating the rider and leaving them with just one left. Yang leaned forward and revved the bike hard, shooting her forward towards the last bike. The final rider started to hit the gas, sending him forward and slowly out of Yang's range. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure if it would even work.

Yang let go of her handlebars and started spraying shots from Ember Celica at the bike, hoping to either kill the rider or throw the bike off balance and force it to crash. She felt her bike start to wobble after a few shots, so she had to abandon her plan in order to keep herself from crashing. Luckily, one blast struck the back wheel of the bike and sent it rolling and the rider flying. Yang and the woman caught up with the rider, who was currently trying to crawl away. The woman was merciless, drawing her pistol and putting two rounds into the back of the rider's head.

"What the fuck was that!? What the fuck is going on?!" Yang barked as she stopped her bike and yanked her helmet off. The woman simply looked at her with a cocked head, then pulled out a scroll and took a picture.

"You will be hearing from us soon enough." The woman stated as she put her scroll away. Yang was about to question the woman when something flew from behind Yang's head. When she looked up, a falcon sat on the handlebars of the woman's bike. Yang was about to question the woman when she revved her engine and rode off, leaving Yang sitting in the middle of the highway with the remains of bikes right behind her. Yang pulled out her scroll to call Ruby, but she just kept going to voicemail.

"Ruby… be careful…" Yang sighed as she put her scroll away and got back on her bike.

O00000O00000O

Ruby, Weiss and Blake slowly moved through the sewers to try and find the group that was already in. Blake took the lead since she had much better hearing than the rest of them, but unfortunately she had a better sense of smell, and the sewers definitely had a strong smell. The three did their best to move quietly, but there was muck up to their ankles, so every move was pretty loud. They encountered a few twists and turns that threw them off course, but Blake always managed to get them on the right track… hopefully. They continued walking when they started to hear talking, and it was the group that went in first.

"Dust, this place smells like shit." The voice of Gray grumbled.

"It's a sewer, it's supposed to smell like shit." Gevehr responded.

"Shut it, you two. Gevehr, are you set?" Ledi questioned in her usual monotone voice.

"I think we should step back. When the charge goes off, there's going to be a lot of shrapnel."

"Understood. Move."

There was a lot of splashing and Team RWBY spotted the group a few tunnels down, the three of them bracing themselves. The Team started to move when they saw the large man pulled out a detonator and press the button. There was a massive explosion with rocks flying from the tunnel the other team was just in, so they probably set a breaching charge. Gray looked like the explosion left a ringing in his ears since he appeared to be in a bit of pain. He shook his head and blinked hard, anything to really get the ringing out of his ears, when he spotted Team RWBY a tunnel over.

"Uh oh. Ledi, we have company." Gray grumbled as he tapped Ledi's shoulder. The blonde turned and spotted the team, a look of neutrality on her face deceived her intent as she charged her assault rifle.

"You know the rules. No one knows about us." Ledi stated as she started to turn her rifle towards Team RWBY. Everyone tried to grab their weapons, but Ledi already had sights on them. Lucky for them, Gray grabbed the top of her gun and shoved it down before she could start shooting. Ledi turned and looked at Gray, her face still remaining cold and mechanical as Gray explained himself.

"Look, I know it's against protocol, but we're already down on numbers and we're going to need help." Gray argued. Ledi looked at him for a while before Gevehr spoke up.

"Ledi, it's just the three of us and you've got the only automatic weapon. I can take out a few, but I only have so many shells. We're going to need more guns firing on all cylinders." Gevehr argued as he lifted his large cannon. Ledi looked at the two of them, then at Team RWBY and then at the ground. She finally looked up and gave an answer.

"Fine. You three, you'll help us and we won't kill you. Sounds like a deal?" Ledi responded. Team RWBY looked at each other with confused looks considering they were threatened/recruited into whatever they were doing. "Your job is very simple; shoot anything in the room that moves and leave nothing alive."

Team RWBY drew their weapons, deciding to help the group rather than fight them. Gevehr took the lead, stepping out and firing his cannon every few steps. There was a loud explosion every time he stepped, basically telling everyone that he was firing a grenade launcher. Ledi followed him, then Gray and Team RWBY taking up the rear. Gevehr stepped through the opening and turned his cannon up as he started side stepping to the right.

Ledi went through and started stepping right, firing her assault rifle in controlled bursts, gunfire starting to strike around her. Gray threw his hands to his side, the claws on his gauntlets extending, and he charged through the hole. Team RWBY went through and had to observe their surroundings first. They were in a central chamber where all of the sewer pipelines connected so it could filter to the sewage treatment plant. What was weird about it was there were makeshift scaffoldings set up around it with strange looking men standing on them.

Some looked somewhat normal, but they had gray skin and red eyes, making them look like some twisted kind of Grimm human hybrid. Others had three arms, wielding machine pistols and knives. The rest were the same as the creature they had spotted earlier, only they seemed more intent on escaping the gunfire. Blake was the first to fire back, raising Gambol Shroud in its pistol mode and firing a few shots at one of the three armed creatures. The bullets ripped through the Grimm creature, it squealing in pain as it stumbled back and fell off the walkway into the pit beneath.

She went left with Ledi while Ruby went right with Gevehr, sniping the creatures that were at the higher levels. Weiss spotted Gray sprinting across the walkways, engaging the Grimm in hand to hand, preventing them from firing down on the teams. She used her glyphs to start jumping up and provide some reinforcement since more of the Grimm started closing in on him. She landed behind him, Gray nearly swinging on her out of reflex, but he caught himself at the last second.

"Don't do that again." Gray pointed out as he swung, cleaving a full Grimm into pieces. Weiss turned back and started throwing bolts of lightning, electrocuting several of the full Grimm and a few half Grimm that tried to get close. Weiss couldn't believe what she was seeing, Grimm that looked horribly close to being human. Ruby stood next to Gevehr, who was currently firing his cannon at large clusters of the Grimm that were crawling down from the darkness above. Ruby was taking her time, choosing the shots that would do the most damage.

"Why don't you shoot the supports? Start bringing the walkways down on them?" Ruby questioned as she took cover to reload. Gevehr took cover as he loaded a new belt of grenades into the cannon.

"Smart idea, Red." Gevehr complimented as he charged his cannon. "Hey! Get away from the walkways! I'm bringing them down!"

Ruby saw Weiss and Gray immediately jump off, Weiss using her glyphs and Gray jumping from walkway to walkway. Gevehr raised his cannon and started blasting the support struts on the walkways his cannon could reach. Ruby started to help him out, taking shots at the higher supports and bringing more down. The Grimm started shrieking in panic as the walkways gave out beneath them, dropping them into the darkness or the walkways crushing them. Ledi and Blake used their weapons to start shooting down the full Grimm that were still crawling down.

It wasn't long after that the shooting finally stopped, that everyone took a break to catch their breath. Team RWBY stayed ready to fight since Ledi was apparently ready to simply gun them down. Fortunately, Ledi slung her assault rifle with a deep sigh and started heading back to the entry way they came in.

"We'll be leaving. Gevehr, Gray, let's get going. The rest of you, we'll be hearing from our organization soon." Ledi stated in her usual, cold mechanical way. Gray and Gevehr rolled their shoulders and grumbled about being tired. Team RWBY waited for a second before finally leaving the sewers and heading up to the surface, the other team being nowhere in sight.

O00000O00000O

Before Team RWBY could leave the sewers, a black unmarked van grabbed the team and drove off into the night. The only seats were the front bench seats and two benches on the sides for the riders. Ledi planted her back against the front bench, the driver passing her what looked like a jack for a set of headphones.

"Did you get a good look at them?" The driver questioned in a deep male voice. Ledi took a deep breath before driving the jack into her right temple.

"Of course." Ledi grumbled as she closed her eyes. She looked like she was developing a headache before finally opening her eyes, the right one turning a bright red like a camera recording light.

"We'll figure out who they are. We'll handle the situation. So, did we find the Brood?"

"No, it was just a small nest. Was Unahk able to catch the Gen 3s?"

"Yes, and she was able to get a picture of the girl with her."

"Are we going to kill them?" Gevehr questioned as he pulled out a rag and started to polish his weapon. He knew that his mission was a secret, that some of the things they knew would tear apart humanity. But he was still okay with senseless violence and removal of unnecessary personnel.

"We'll look into… alternate methods of dealing with this. Relax, Gevehr, we will figure something out." The man replied. The rest of the ride was silent, just as the rides after missions usually was.

 **A/N:** So there you have it, the first chapter of RWBY: Deathwatch. Simply review the chapter or PM me about what you think. Until next time!

-Chief


	2. Chapter 2: The Deathwatch

Chapter 2: The Deathwatch

Team RWBY went through the halls to grab lunch, still a little shaken up by the events of last night. Grimm that could camouflage themselves as humans? That was something that threw them for a complete loop, and the group that went after them didn't seem too stable either. One heavy gunner, one speed fighter, one nearly mechanical person and the other an adult biker.

"Yeah, the biker said 'You'll be hearing from us soon enough' and that was creepy as hell." Yang grumbled as they walked.

"The blonde one said we'd be hearing from their organization soon enough." Weiss reminded them, pointing out that they weren't done quite yet. No one wanted to know what they had planned, but they had no idea what they were going to do, and that was the scary part. Ruby remembered that the blonde also turned her weapon on them to preserve their secret, and the only reason they were still standing was they needed extra guns.

"Well, we'll have to be on our guard from now on." Blake pointed out, Gambol Shroud on her back. It was true for all of the team since all of them started carrying their weapons on them almost at all times. Sleep was a little rough since they were plagued by nightmares of the Grimm they ran into, both the full Grimm and Human Grimm forms. All of them did their best to clear their minds, but it was futile since the group from last night was currently sitting at the table with Team JNPR. The biker was having crazy conversation with Nora, while the speed fighter chatted with Jaune, the heavy gunner had a book in front of him and appeared to be talking to Pyrrha about it and the mechanical blonde sat across from Ren, silently eating.

Team RWBY was frozen in place, seeing the group of psychos sitting at their usual lunch table and eating with their friends. They were about to leave the room, but unfortunately the gunner spotted them and waved them over, which caused Team JNPR to look. Team RWBY slowly approached their lunch table, hands on their weapons and ready for a fight. The speed fighter with the clawed gauntlets waved his hand and gave a very calm response.

"Relax… we aren't here to fight. We're just here to talk. My name is Gray, by the way, Gray Trochilidae." Grey introduced. He then began to point at the biker, the blonde and then the gunner. Gray introduced. "That is Unahk, Ledi and Gevehr."

The corresponding people waved, Team RWBY waving uncomfortably.

"Grab some food. Come join us!" Unahk cheered as she continued eating. Team RWBY went to the line, and unfortunately had an unwelcome addition. Gevehr had joined them, clearly not full after his first tray of food. He stood next to Blake, who was unfortunately stuck between him and Yang.

"What are you doing here?" Blake practically hissed, pulling a bit of Weiss attitude into her tone.

"Getting seconds. The food here is simply amazing." Gevehr answered as he grabbed another sandwich and fries.

"No, I mean really, what are you doing here?" Blake repeated.

"Trying to solve this issue without your friends going 'missing'. The four of you discovered something that you should not have known about. Normally, protocol dictates you are removed. Me and Gray are doing our best to make sure that it doesn't happen." Gevehr responded in a quiet, barking manner. All of Team RWBY had a panicked look on their faces, their worst fears being confirmed. The group returned to find them, just so they could kill them. Gevehr saw their panicked looks and immediately comforted "Like I said, we're working on a way where we don't have to do that. You were instrumental in taking out that small nest. That has to count for something."

Gevehr patted Blake's shoulder and returned to the table with the team behind him, the members of his group finishing their food enthusiastically except for Ledi.

"So, why are you guys so happy to be eating here?" Nora questioned as she ate. Team RWBY sorta froze at the question, hoping that Team JNPR wouldn't be dragged into the same situation as them.

"They helped us on a mission. We are simply here to inform their Headmaster of their contribution to the Hunting community." Ledi replied flatly as she ate her food. Team RWBY sighed a bit, happy that JNPR wasn't getting involved.

"Also to grab a bite to eat. This food is fantastic!" Unahk cheered as she ate. "Why don't we get this nice of food?"

"I have a fun game to play. Raise your hand if you're a convicted murderer." Gray proclaimed, relatively loudly. The new group at the table proceeded to raise their hands plainly, like it was no big deal to show that. Everyone at the table looked at the group with a mix of surprised and horrified expressions, seeing that the people that had joined them were killers. Gray put his hand down and finished "And that is why we aren't allowed nice things."

Everyone was frozen in place, forks and spoons stopped mid raise as the new group continued eating as normal. They finished eating and Ledi decided to be the bad guy, pointing at Team RWBY before stating the orders.

"You four, follow us. We have a meeting between your Headmaster and our leader." Ledi stated plainly, sending chills down the team's spines. Team RWBY got up and said goodbye to their friends, hopefully not for the last time. The walk through the halls was uncomfortable, mainly because the group only really talked about the food in the mess hall.

"I think we should bring it up at the next quality of life meeting." Gevehr brought up. He wasn't carrying his massive cannon nor did he have his backpack, but the girls got a good look at him, seeing that he was very heavily built.

"We just went over this, we don't get nice things." Gray reminded. He wasn't carrying his gauntlets or his jacket, so they could see he was a toned individual.

"But still… I like food."

"We are all aware of your desire for better food." Ledi stated plainly. She didn't really change her appearance, still carrying her assault rifle on her back.

"Come on, we can at least try for something. Let Gunner enjoy something in life." Gray chuckled, patting Gevehr on the back. The group chuckled, leaving the rest of Team RWBY in the dark. Gevehr turned around and decided to ask a few questions.

"So… your friend Pyrrha…" Gevehr questioned as he walked backwards. Team RWBY couldn't help but notice the reactions from the question. Gray chuckled a bit while Unahk pulled out her scroll and Ledi made a sound of disgust. "Is… she single?"

"Why do you want to know?" Yang questioned as she crossed her arms. The last thing any of them wanted was to have this group become a permanent part of the school.

"You know… just asking."

"Don't you have, like, 20 years?" Gray pointed out.

"I get lonely. I would like some… company… some time." Gevehr answered.

"Don't worry bro, I'll set you up." Gray exclaimed as he patted Gevehr's back, turning him around. "Hey, Ledi! Want a date?"

"I would rather shoot the remaining half of my face." Ledi answered.

"I tried." Gray exclaimed as he held out his arms. Ruby leaned towards Weiss and whispered so they were the only ones that knew what was going on… hopefully.

"20 years? Who are these people?" Ruby questioned.

"Who knows, but they don't seem very stable." Weiss whispered back. Unfortunately, one person in the group heard their conversation.

"Very few of us are so stable." Ledi stated coldly from the front of the group. The rest of the walk was awkwardly quiet after that until the group rode the elevator up to Headmaster Ozpin's office. Once they arrived, they found their Headmaster having a pleasant conversation with a man in a black suit. He was bald and had a cane leaning against his chair with a golden skull with wings on it.

"We have brought the group that assisted us in our mission." Ledi stated in her usual mechanical manner. The conversation stopped and the man stood up with some assistance from his cane. The team could see he had dark brown eyes, but they gave off an eerie aura.

"Hm… how very interesting." The man exclaimed. His voice was deep, but also very hollow and made him sound even creepier. "But it doesn't matter. I'm sure the four of you have questions, so we'll go one at a time."

"Who are you? And this… group?" Weiss questioned immediately. The man chuckled as he turned his seat towards them and resumed sitting before giving an answer.

"I, am Romanum Imperium. I am the leader for the Vale chapter of a group known as the Deathwatch. We are a group of fighters that have been convicted of heinous crimes and atrocities that would have normally ended with death or life imprisonment, but we proved too useful for that. Instead, we are sent on suicidal missions for a set amount of time before we are released back into the real world. Next question." Romanum answered. The girls shifted uncomfortably, knowing that the group they had worked with were actually killers and murderers.

"What were those things we fought?" Ruby questioned after a long silence.

"Those, my dear, were a species of Grimm we have named Imposters, for their ability to imitate human form. It isn't an immediate change, but in three generations they have completely copied what a normal person looks like."

"And why doesn't anyone know about this? Shouldn't the public be aware of that?" Blake questioned. It seemed like Grimm that could imitate human form should be something that everyone was aware of, not just Huntsman or this Deathwatch.

"Tell me, Miss, how do you think the public would react to such news? That, without their knowing, their friends… neighbors… or even their family… has been replaced by some Grimm? It would be hysteria… madness that Grimm feed off of." Romanum answered, his voice going cold and hard. Yang decided it was time to ask the big question.

"So, what's going to happen to us?" Yang questioned, awaiting the answer. The whole team had been worrying about that very subject, and now they were finally going to get their answer. Romanum smiled as he held his cane out at arm's length.

"That… is a very good question. Now, there is our normal protocol of simply removing you for seeing something so secret." Romanum exclaimed as he stood up and started to pace the team. All of the girls began sweating since they noted Ledi bring her rifle around to her front. Romanum continued "But, with some urging from a few of my soldiers, as well as a nice conversation with your Headmaster, I've decided that we will not follow our usual protocol."

There was a collective sigh of relief from the Team, as well as a few from the Deathwatch.

"Instead, you will be joining us until our current mission is complete. Now, you will not have the same odds of survival as my soldiers." Romanum continued, still pacing around the Team. The chill of fear ran straight down the girls' spines once more since the Deathwatch was sent on suicide missions. Romanum must have seen their worry and simply smiled before reassuring "You will have much better odds. I've instructed the current members you see, as well as the others we have waiting at our base, that you are to be protected as high value assets."

"I have a question. What if we don't want to do this?" Weiss questioned, simply wanting to know all of their options. Romanum picked up his cane and tapped the skull against his chin.

"Well, there is one experimental method we haven't tried before. I could use my abilities to force you to forget what you saw, and this meeting… but I may also turn you into a vegetable. The choice is yours." Romanum answered.

"I see. I'll take your first offer." Weiss replied, not wanting to take the chance.

"Um, Mr. Imperium? What did you do to end up on the Deathwatch?" Ruby blurted out. She immediately regretted her question, since the Deathwatch didn't seem like it was made up of the best kind of people. Ruby immediately apologized "Sorry sir! I wasn't thinking…"

"It's quite alright, young one." Romanum replied, patting the top of Ruby's head like a parent would to a child. "I have a unique ability, to control people's minds, both aware and unaware."

"That's ridiculous." Weiss stated plainly. He could control people's minds? The idea just seemed like fantasy.

"Gunner! Please step forward." Romanum called, Gevehr groaning as he did what he was told.

"Why am I always the guinea pig for this?" Gevehr groaned as he stopped a few steps away from the girls. Romanum simply smiled, his grip on his cane tightening as Gevehr's stare turned into the thousand yard stare. Gevehr then slowly lifted his hand, balled it into a fist, and started punching himself in the face. The girls raised an eyebrow at the action, then he finally stopped after the third punch.

"Have I made my case?" Romanum questioned as he took a seat. Gevehr proceeded to rub his face where he had been punching, grumbling more about being a guinea pig. Weiss crossed her arms, still not completely convinced.

"No, you haven't. How do we know he isn't just an idiot?" Weiss questioned. A few of the Deathwatch chuckled as Gray patted Gevehr's shoulder.

"Look out Gunner, she's onto you." Gray chuckled. Gevehr simply rolled his eyes as Romanum sighed.

"Fine, I guess I can show a bit more. Gunner! Pick one." Romanum called. Gevehr looked at Romanum with a raised eyebrow, who simply nodded. Gevehr looked at the girls one by one with an unsure look on his face.

"For the love of! I'll pick for you!" Gray barked, clearly impatient with Gunner's indecision. Gray looked the girls over himself, immediately pointing at Blake. "Her… black hair."

"Blake Belladonna." Ozpin introduced, remaining eerily quiet the entire conversation.

"Yeah, Blake. Go get her, Gunner." Gray exclaimed as he pushed Gunner forward. Blake looked at Gunner with a raised eyebrow, since he seemed a little nervous. The rest of the team watched as Romanum simply smiled and Blake's gaze went a little distant, eyes drooping a little bit. They were surprised to watch as Blake walked over to Gunner, wrapped her arms around his waist and planted her lips against his. Gunner tensed up a bit before relaxing and leaning into the kiss.

"Okay Gunner, you've had your fun." Romanum chuckled, waving his hand. Blake seemed to return to reality, eyes going wide seeing she was kissing Gevehr. She immediately jumped back, putting a hand over her mouth as Gevehr had a wide smile on his face.

"Hey, Gunner, was that your first kiss since you started the Deathwatch?" Gray chuckled as he pulled Gunner back to the group. Both Gunner and Blake became extremely red faced, Yang, Gray and Unahk starting to chuckle from their reactions. Gray laughed "It was! How adorable!"

"Shut up!" Gunner barked as his teammate laughed. Headmaster Ozpin cleared his throat, causing everything to die down very quickly.

"Girls, I hope you know you've been granted a very large opportunity. You have luck on your side that I have known Mr. Imperium for quite some time. I do know he can be a bit… extreme… but he knows what he's doing. You will be in good hands with them." Headmaster Ozpin stated. The girls nodded, understanding the situation that they were in. He continued "Pack your bags and be ready to leave. You will be staying with the Deathwatch until your time with them has ended."

"Once you're ready, meet us by the docks. Our airship will be there and waiting." Romanum exclaimed. He slightly gesture his cane towards the door, the team moving like a well-oiled machine as they headed to the elevator silently. Once they were gone, the team decided to voice their concerns to Headmaster Ozpin.

"Sir, are you sure this is going to be safe? I mean, all of them are-." Weiss started to question. Headmaster Ozpin held up his hand, cutting Weiss off before answering.

"People who made mistakes in their time. All members of the Deathwatch are people of considerable skill that killed people who, and do not quote me, deserved what happened to them. Take Romanum, for instance. He used his ability to over throw a corrupt government, but his power was deemed too great and he had to be locked away. He is a man of his word, you will be kept safe." Headmaster Ozpin assured.

"What about our work here? At Beacon?" Ruby questioned.

"It will be waived. Consider this… on the job training. Now, go pack your things, you have somewhere to be."

The team nodded and they headed to their room to pack their bags, mainly in silence. They were still a little uneasy about the whole thing, working with a group of killers and murderers. They shouldered their bags and started walking towards the docks.

"Alright, we're going into uncharted territory. We need to stick together." Ruby started. She didn't know what her team was going to go through, but she was sure they were all going to make it out of it. She went on "Try not to be alone with any of them. Who knows what they're capable of."

"I doubt they're going to control themselves. I mean, one already forced Blake to do something she didn't want to. You good Blake? You've been really quiet… well, quieter than usual." Yang stated. Honestly, Blake was still just trying to wrap her head around what happened. She had zer0 control of herself, but it felt like she had control. It was a bit like an out of body experience, her body moving without her actually doing it.

"Yeah… I think…" Blake responded quietly.

"Still rattled from kissing the Big Guy?"

"Yeah… a bit…"

"So… was it a good kiss?" Yang chuckled, trying to make light of a bit of the situation. Blake simply rolled her eyes and remained silent. The group exited the school and made their way to the docks, spotting a strange looking airship. It looked like a large box and seemed more built for combat than transport. It had a wide wingspan with rockets on the underside, a skull with a red eye and a bronze I behind it. The cockpit had blacked out windows with two mini-guns mounted on the front.

The girls spotted the group waiting just out front, all of them seated on a bench. A falcon flew over Team RWBY's head and landed on Unahk's shoulder. As they approached, Romanum held out his arms and made a large declaration.

"Team RWBY! Welcome to the Deathwatch!" Romanum announced. He pointed back at the ship and went on "This is the Blackstar. Our transport gunship. Its pilot, Four Seven Niner, is the best there is. She'll get you where you need to go before anyone is the wiser. Now, let's get moving. We have much to discuss about our plans and get you moved in." Team RWBY simply nodded and boarded the heavily armed gunship. The inside looked like it was prepped for a combat drop into a warzone. The sides had bench seats with locking bars that lowered from the roof with a weapon storage in the back of the airship. There was a clear view into the cock pit with a large number of screens, buttons and levers in it, a pilot sitting in the front but facing them. She was decent height, about the same as Blake, and wore a grey flight suit with a grey motorcycle helmet and blue visor.

"They get younger every year." The pilot groaned as she spun around in her chair, facing the controls. She went on as everyone boarded the airship. "Doesn't matter. I'm just payed to fly. Anyway, I'm Four Seven Niner, but you can just call me Niner. I don't care your history, I don't care your crime. If you need to talk to someone, then find someone else."

The girls looked at each other with raised eyebrows as the members of the Deathwatch took their seats.

"Don't be fooled. She puts on a tough face, but she's a real softy." Gray chuckled as he got settled in his seat.

"You know I'm not, especially when I have to deal with you sick bastards…" Niner argued turning in her seat. She slowly raised her hand and pointed at Gunner, finishing "And he's the sickest of them all."

"She's joking. I'm not that bad." Gunner defended. The girls nodded, unsure of who to believe. Once everyone was settled in, Niner raised the ship and they started flying. Ruby decided to ask a few questions, get to know some of the people they would be working with.

"So… what's with the bird?" Ruby questioned, referring to the falcon sitting on Unahk's shoulder. The bird sat calmly on one of the lowered locking bars like it was a perch. Unahk reached over and started to pet the bird before answering.

"This is Shonkhor. Found him a few years back as just an egg. Hatched him and raised him. You see, I have a Semblance, I can meld with the mind of an animal. I can see what he sees. Very useful when tracking Imposters." Unahk explained simply.

"So, when you said that some Gen 3's were on the highway?"

"That was Shonkhor telling me. He had been watching them, making sure we wouldn't get bit in the ass."

"That seems… useful." Blake stated, breaking her silence around the group. She felt a bit weird being around Gunner, even worse since the group seemed to force her to sit next to her. Not outright force her, just take the seats and leaving the one next to him open. There was an awkward silence before Gunner finally spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened in your Headmaster's office. Believe me, it wasn't my idea. Still, I'm sorry. Mind if we just… start over?" Gunner suggested as he held out this hand. He introduced "Hi, I'm Gevehr Schwer, but all my friends call me Gunner."

"Blake, Blake Belladonna. Nice to meet you, Gunner." Blake responded. She felt a bit better, knowing that Gunner was sorry about what happened, but it was still a little weird around him. Gray decided to chime in.

"Don't they just make the cutest couple?" Gray laughed loudly, causing a few chuckles. Ledi, as cold and mechanical as ever, joined in.

"Focus. We aren't here to establish personal relationships. We're here for a purpose." Ledi reminded. The Deathwatch got a little somber after that, remembering that they had one job.

"Right, we're some kind of… suicide squad." Gunner pointed out.

"You know that sounds like some comic idea, right?" Gray pointed out.

"Think it would make a good movie?"

"Probably over hyped but poorly written."

"What the fuck are they on about?" Yang questioned as Gray and Gunner finished their conversation.

"It's easier just to let them talk it out as opposed to trying to stop them." Unahk exclaimed, petting Shonkhor again as the falcon squawked. The rest of the flight was filled with small talk simply to pass the time, but it was a short flight, only about an hour. The ship started to land and the locks released, everyone standing to stretch and get the feeling back in their legs. The airship doors opened up and the team was thrust into a town that looked like its police force went on strike. Everyone carried weapons on them with people fighting in the streets.

The girls saw several push others around and kids bumping into adults, more than likely picking their pockets. The Deathwatch started walking and everyone seemed to part for them, so Team RWBY followed to not get left behind. The buildings looked like they hadn't been cared for in years, just on the verge of decrepit but still livable. Ruby slid up to Ledi and inquired about the town.

"Why is this place so…" Ruby started but droned off. She wasn't sure how to put it since she didn't know how the Deathwatch felt about the town. The last thing she wanted to do was insult the people that were supposed to be protecting her and her team.

"Shitty? Run down? Vile? Who would look for a group dedicated to protecting humanity from dark secrets here? Especially one that is made up of killers and murderers." Ledi answered plainly. As cold and mechanical as she seemed, her argument made sense. No one would go looking for them in a town of criminals, even easier to blend in with since they technically were criminals.

"That's a good point… I know I wouldn't want to be here." Ruby added, pointing out her discomfort.

"It's nice enough… once you show people not to mess with you."

The group continued until they reached a warehouse towards the edge of town. It wasn't any different than the ones they had in Vale, only this one seemed like it was in worse condition than it should have been. They walked in, only to find a large number of canisters with electronic locks on them. Team RWBY still followed them as they walked towards the back and found a black canister with the same red eyed skull with a bronze I behind it. Romanum approached the canister and pulled out a scroll, holding it up to the electronic lock and opening the canister.

The group simply entered the canister and the door shut, immersing themselves in darkness. A light came on in the corner and illuminated the container. Romanum opened a hidden panel, and hit a few buttons, then the canister started to lower into the ground, or more accurately, the ground started to lower.

"Team RWBY… welcome… to the Deathwatch." Romanum repeated from earlier as the real facility was revealed. The initial zone was an open room with four Atlesian Knights standing in the corners. They weren't the clunky grey models, but these were sleeker, and white with rifles. There was a door in front of them with two knights guarding it. Above the door in red was what Team RWBY guessed was the Deathwatch's slogan, "Until Death, Suffer Not Grimm to Live".

The group moved through the doors until they entered a large common area, about as big as the main hall of Beacon. To the left of the door was a small library section with five large bookshelves as several chairs. Next to that was a door that had "MESS" written above it. Next to that was a large, almost theater sized television with couches and chairs set up around it. The back right corner had a pool table and a ping pong table with several sticks and paddles for each game, as well as several board games beneath the tables. The immediate right held several long couches that were set up in a circle and seemed more for lounging around.

Between the game section and lounging section was a door with the word "ROOMS" above it. The floor was a low, dark blue carpet with several lights overhead. There were a few individuals around the room, one in the library, one watching TV and the last one playing pool.

"Attention! We have some new members who will be working with us! Get to know them and have fun. I'll be in my office." Romanum announced as he stepped to the center of the room. The three individuals all stood up and moved to the new group as Romanum went through the door on the opposite end of the room labeled "COMMAND". The first one to step up was a large, monstrosity of a man. He was bald with bronze skin and was heavily built. He stood at least 6'6" and wore a red shirt with dirty green jeans.

The feature that stood out the most was half of his face and his right arm was covered in burn scars.

"Hi there, I'm Huh (like Who) K'aak' (K- ah-k). I'm the fire expert of the group." The large man introduced. The next individual was a young blonde man that was as tall as Yang with matching bright blonde hair. He wore a gold shirt with dark red pants and stood with one hip cocked to the side and a hand sitting on it.

"Hey, my name is Meleg Vampir, but you can call me Mel." He introduced. He then proceeded to look the girls up and down with an inquisitive look. He made the corresponding sounds as the last individual introduced herself. She was Ruby's height with a similar body style with short black hair, black pants, a red jacket and white shirt. She also had a pair of wire rim glasses that rested on the tip of her nose.

"Hello, I'm Sanginia Librorum. So, why are you in the Deathwatch?" the girl asked. Mel held up a finger to Team RWBY, preventing them from answering. He pulled his finger back and proceeded to give them his observation.

"You, Little Red, I _love_ the gothic look. It fits you _perfectly_." Mel critiqued. He slid over to Weiss and went on. "Girl, blue and white, definitely your color. The splash of red though… iffy, if you ask me."

"You, rock it girl. Show those boys what you've got!" Mel complimented, moving down to Blake. He was a bit more critical of her choice in fashion. "You… hmmm… I'd say lose the stockings. Show off those legs of yours. Unless you want Gevehr, who hasn't taken his eyes off of you."

Blake looked at Gunner, who immediately blushed a bit and looked away. Blake felt a small blush on her face as she looked at her feet, Huh pulling Mel back.

"Come on Mel, lighten up on them. So, what did you girls do to get here?" Huh questioned. Ruby stepped up as the leader as the rest of the Deathwatch moved around the room.

"Well, we accidently ran into these guys chasing some Imposters. We decided to help and this was the result. We're going to work with you for a while." Ruby answered, looking the new individuals up and down. They all seemed like good people, but then again, they were on the Deathwatch.

"We know, just wanted to hear it from you. So, want to meet the rest of the group? They aren't as stable as the rest of us, but they're still good people. Here, I'll take you to them." Mel volunteered. Sanginia shrugged and went back to her library while Huh returned to his game of pool. Mel took the girls through the "ROOM" door, which was a hallway with doors and an open room at the end of the hallway. The girls noticed that each of the doors had names on them, each of them of the Deathwatch.

"So there's three others you haven't met. The first is Vael Domatus. He's a little… peculiar." Mel warned as he knocked on the door. The door opened and the girls were met with a very different individual. He almost seemed… normal. He had short brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue t-shirt and black jeans. He was holding a ruler and a tape measure in his hands as he poked his head out.

"What is it, Mel?" Vael questioned, a bit of irritation in his voice.

"We have some visitors. You read the file yet?" Mel questioned as he gestured to Team RWBY.

"I have. They found out about Imposters and instead to eliminating them, they're going to learn more. It makes no sense."

The girls looked at each other with raised eyebrows before looking back at him.

"I am Vael Domatus. Nice to meet you." Vael responded with a sigh, holding out a free hand. Ruby reached out and shook his hand.

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." Ruby greeted as she shook his hand. She noticed that as she shook his hand, he counted the shakes. Which was three times. He did the same for all of the girls, greeting them and counting 3 shakes before letting go.

"Nice to meet all of you, but I have things to take care of." Vael exclaimed before closing his door.

"Is he okay?" Yang questioned. "He seemed a bit… off."

"Trust me, he's a good guy… just… he has extreme Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Can't really leave his room other than food and missions since he has a thing about symmetry." Mel answered. He shook his head and continued "Anyway, next is… Tenebra Angelus. She's right down the hall."

The group traveled only to find her door with a note on it. Mel pulled the note off the door and read it out loud.

"Dear Newcomers. I'm Tenebra and I am not to be disturbed." Mel read. "Well, looks like you'll be meeting her later. Anyway, the last member is a bit… unstable."

The group moved to the end of the hallway, only finding the doorway had a red line just behind it. The room beyond was dark, like creepy cave dark.

"So… who lives here?" Weiss questioned as she took a step forward. Weiss as about a foot away from the red line when something shot out of the darkness and stopped just before the red line. This member was female and clearly a wolf Faunus, given her wolf ears and tail. She had long, dark red hair that reached the small of her back with green eyes. She was wearing a black tank top with jean shorts and tribal tattoos on her arms.

She had a wide grin on her face with sharp canines, making her look like a grinning predator. The biggest thing was she had a metal collar around her neck with a chain pulled tight into the darkness.

"Lycana Luna." The wolf growl, sniffing them hungrily. She moved from side to side, eyeing all of them like she was prepared to devour them. She did this for a moment before her eyes finally fell on Weiss, sending a chill up her spine. "I like the white one. I want her."

Weiss took a step back as Lycana licked her lips hungrily.

"I think it's safe to say that you should probably stay away from this end." Mel pointed out. Weiss was nearly frozen in place as Lycana maintained direct eye contact with her, her green eyes bright and reflective in the dark, just like a predator's.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Weiss responded.

"Lycana, back to your corner." Mel barked, trying to shoo Lycana away. "You're scaring them."

"Fine, I'm going." Lycana sighed as she took a step back. She looked back up at Weiss, the same predatory smile returning as she made eye contact. "I'll see you later."

Lycana slunk back into the darkness as the group returned to the main room.

"So, why is she chained up? Is it because she's a Faunus?" Blake questioned with a bit of anger in her voice. They had only met a single Faunus in the Deathwatch and she was chained up.

"She's chained up because she's a dangerous lunatic who murdered 20 people. Granted, all of them were a Pro-human group that burned down a Faunus school, but still, she killed them all." Mel updated. "All of us here did something awful to worse people. But we're mostly good people."

From the pool table, where Gray and Huh were playing a game, Huh spoke up.

"Don't talk about people's sentences. It's rude." Huh exclaimed before he sunk a ball into the corner pocket.

"Right. Some of us here are willing to talk about our sentences, others aren't. But we do our best not to tell people each other's sentences." Mel pointed out. "I would suggest waiting on asking people about their time here."

The group nodded and grabbed their bags, heading to the room that they were assigned, an appropriate "TEAM RWBY" name on the door. It was a decently sized room, about as big as their room at Beacon. It seemed like it was set up for them since it had actual bunk beds and two large dressers.

"So… these are the people we're going to be working with…" Blake pointed out as she started putting her clothes in the dresser. "They don't seem… completely awful."

The team shared the same thought, they all weren't terrible people. Granted, Lycana did seem to be the worst they had, but there was also Tenebra, who they hadn't even met yet. All of them seemed like decent people, but they were still killers and murderers in a town of low lives.

"We have to stay on our game and stay together. Yeah, Romanum said that we would be protected, but we can only rely on each other." Ruby exclaimed, taking a stand as their leader. All of them nodded their heads, agreeing with Ruby. They may have a team with them, but for all they knew, they were on their own.

 **A/N:** Hope everyone is enjoying the chapter, as well as meeting all the members of the Deathwatch. So, what will be next for the Deathwatch and Team RWBY? What horrors will they learn about? Until next time.

-Chief


	3. Chapter 3: Learn Thy Enemy

Chapter 3: Learn Thy Enemy

The alarms came very early for Team RWBY, roughly 6:30 in the morning early. All of the girls groaned as they reached for their separate alarms to ensure that all of them were awake. They were all in their usual bed clothes, but they still weren't in their usual room. The dark concrete walls gave the room more of a prison feel, but they at least had a dark brown carpet so they weren't just walking around on cold concrete. Yang jumped out of bed and landed on the ground, standing up and stretching as everyone else slowly pulled themselves from bed. They were pretty hungry since apparently they arrived after the cooking had quit for the night and left them with nothing.

Once all of them were up, the girls stepped out of the room seeing that they weren't the first ones to wake up. Gray and Gunner were exiting their rooms in completely different bedroom attires. Gray was wearing a dark green t-shirt with black pants that had a red and white soda label on them with black old man slippers. Gunner, however, wore no shirt with black pajama pants and black flip flops. Blake was a tad mesmerized by Gunner's muscles since it was clear he took care of himself.

Yang took note of Blake's gaze and smirked, ready to mess with her a bit.

"Jeez Blake, like what you see?" Yang stated pretty loudly. Blake's face immediately turned a bright red as Gunner turned to look at her, catching her in the act of staring at him. Gunner turned red too, chuckling nervously.

"I guess I should put a shirt on." Gunner chuckled as he headed back to his room to grab a shirt. Blake turned and punched Yang in the arm, who was too busy laughing at the situation. Gunner returned wearing a white shirt, putting it on as he stepped into the hallway.

"Come on you two, quit flirting and let's grab breakfast." Grey grumbled as he shuffled passed. Gunner joined him, looking away to save an embarrassed look at Blake. The girls joined them, walking across the common area into the kitchen. It was a large area with a buffet style serving area towards the back with several long tables in the center. Team RWBY followed Gunner and Grey as they grabbed trays that looked like they belonged in a prison. They shuffled down the line, the workers scooping different foods, but they didn't look too well prepared.

They were given scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with fruit, but there was a problem with everything. The eggs looked like they were cooked right after the bacon was done, so it was dark with grease. The bacon was burnt to a crisp and so was the toast, and the fruit looked like it was fresh two weeks ago. Gunner and Grey looked like this was average for them, but the girls were a bit more used to better living. They sat down at one table, the group unconsciously making Blake and Gunner sit next to each other, and the girls stared at their food uncomfortably.

They looked up seeing Grey and Gunner starting to mix their food together, crumbling the burnt bacon and toast over the eggs and mixing it together.

"What do you want to drink?" Gunner questioned as he stood up.

"Water." Grey grumbled as he started to eat his subpar breakfast. Gunner headed to the drink stand, Blake getting up with him to get herself a drink. The dispenser for drinks was the same as the self-serve machines you see at fast food places, only this one had electronic labels to deal with the changing meals. Gunner got two glasses of water while Blake got a glass of what said milk, what came out smelled like the milk went bad last week.

"Only drink the water. It's the safest option." Gunner suggested as he poured a third glass of water. He handed it to her, Blake taking it but accidently wrapping her fingers around his. Blake turned a bit pink as she looked at Gunner, the heavy weapon specialist doing the same. She couldn't help but think about his strong physique and soft lips as she started into his eyes. Sadly, their moment was ruined as they heard someone call out.

"Oh my Dust! Just kiss already!" Mel shouted as he took his seat. Huh pushed between them, getting his own glass of water.

"Seriously. Just get it out of the way." Huh proclaimed as he pulled his glass away.

"They already did. That's why there's all that tension between them." Yang pointed out as she mixed her breakfast. Blake and Gunner went red in the face again, returning to their seats and looking straight down at their breakfast. Huh was wearing a pair of green sweatpants and no shirt, showing the right side on his body was covered in burn scars. Mel, however, was wearing a set of long satin pajamas that were a dark red with gold trimming on them. They ate basically the same way, mixing their breakfast together into a mess and eating it that way.

Team RWBY followed their lead, mixing their breakfast together and eating so it was at least passable. They were later joined by Sanginia and Vael, both still in their pajamas like everyone else. Sanginia was in a dark red tank top with white pajama pants and wasn't wearing her glasses, her hair tossed in every direction. Vael looked like he hadn't gone to bed when it came to looks, his shirt and pants were perfectly pressed, almost like it was done professionally. His hair was perfectly combed and he looked like he had already showered.

They sat down with the group after grabbing their breakfast and mixing it together, just as all the other Deathwatch had done. Unahk showed up next with her bird, Shankor, sitting on her shoulder, wearing a white tank top and red pajama pants. There wasn't much talking amongst the group, just silent eating. That's when the member they hadn't seen before walked into the mess hall, and she had a very dark aura around her. She wore a light tan jacket with dark green pants and was about Blake's height minus the ears.

She had short black hair and dark brown eyes with a few piercings on her face. She had a stud on her nose on the right side, a stud on her left brow. She also had three piercings on her right ear, each some kind of symbol or emblem.

"I'm guessing that's Tenebra." Blake questioned quietly as the woman got her breakfast. Unahk nodded as Tenebra got her drink and left the room.

"She's a very… secretive girl." Unahk replied as she held up a piece of toast to Shankor, who started pecking at it. "No one really knows why she's here… and she keeps to herself all of the time."

"You say secretive, I say creepy." Huh replied as he finished his breakfast. He got up and went to the line, looking like he was getting a second helping. But when he returned, he came back with a dog bowl that was filled with breakfast. He sighed "Someone has to go feed Lycana. So, we'll get the hat and see who does it."

"A dog bowl? Really?" Blake questioned. That just added to the thought that most of the Deathwatch was racist against Faunus. Huh turned it so the name faced her, showing that it had Lycana's name on it, pressed into the metal.

"It was the one thing she brought with her when she joined the watch." Huh responded as he set the bowl down. Vael brought out a hat that had pieces of paper in it, assuming that it had all of their names in it. Vael shuffled the hat around and pulled out a name, reading it out loud.

"Weiss." Vael read out loud, Weiss swallowing nervously. She could still feel Lycana's predatory stare on her, sending chills up her spine.

"I'm not quite sure sending her is the best idea." Mel brought up since he was there when Lycana basically claimed Weiss.

"Rules are rules. Whoever gets drawn from the hat, goes and feeds Lycana." Vael assured, reaching across the table and giving Weiss the bowl. Weiss took a deep breath and sighed heavily, picking up the bowl and heading to Lycana's room. She could feel her knees shaking as she approached the open door at the end of the hall, still dark. She made it to the red line, unsure of what to do or if there was a way to turn a light on.

"L… Lycana?" Weiss called out, hoping that she wouldn't jump out at her again. There was nothing from her room, no snoring or movement. Weiss waited for a moment and finally heard something, a groan and the sound of a bed creaking. Suddenly, a light turned on towards the back, illuminating the room to reveal that it wasn't much different than the room that they were provided. It was concrete walls with dark brown carpet, her bed was in the back right corner with a desk and a lamp that had a desk lamp on it.

Lycana was lying face down on her bed, groaning into her pillow as her arm flopped down.

"Lycana? Are you… okay?" Weiss questioned nervously as her eyes fell to the chain that was on the floor. She could see that Lycana was still wearing her collar and that the chain connected to the back wall at the center.

"Stomach… hurts…" Lycana groaned as her arms pulled beneath her covers and curled up into the fetal position beneath her blanket. Weiss looked around the room a bit more, seeing a dresser in the back left corner with a small table and chair that was probably used as a desk. Weiss felt a ping of pity in her gut, seeing someone clearly in pain, even if it was someone that chilled her to the bone. She swallowed nervously as she stepped over the red line and entered Lycana's room. She waited for Lycana to jump out at her bed and attack her.

But, Lycana didn't move… she simply laid in bed, groaning in pain. Weiss continued to slowly move towards Lycana's bed, quietly and gently setting the bowl on the nightstand. She was just about to put a calming hand on Lycana's shoulder when the wolf suddenly sprung to life and grabbed the hand, the green eyes burning a sickly green. Weiss wanted to scream as she was suddenly pulled into the bed, she really wanted to, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Everything was a blur as she was suddenly put onto her back with Lycana on top of her, pinning her arms over her head with a wide, predatory smile.

"You brought me breakfast… how sweet." Lycana quietly proclaimed, lowering herself until they were chest to chest. Lycana licked her lips, making Weiss horribly nervous about what was going to happen next. She could feel Lycana force a knee between her legs, forcing them open and Lycana pushing her hips against hers. Weiss could feel tears of fear building up in her eyes, figuring that she was about to be raped by this woman. Lycana whispered "I should repay you for your kindness."

Lycana then pressed their lips together, her tongue forcing its way into Weiss' mouth and wrestling her tongue around in her mouth. Lycana's taste flooded her mouth as she pushed her tongue around aggressively. Weiss' eyelids drooped a bit, thinking that the taste was actually a bit… intoxicating. The kiss finally ended as Lycana pulled away, licking her lips to savor Weiss' taste… Weiss unconsciously doing exactly the same. The Wolf Faunus looked down at Weiss with a wide grin, seeing her blush and look away, and chuckled a bit.

"Well, thanks again for breakfast." Lycana thanked as she got out of bed, Weiss seeing exactly what she was wearing to bed. She wore her black tank top and black boxers, extenuating her curvy figure and large bust. She simply sat on the floor with her back against the bed, grabbing the bowl from the night stand and starting to pick food out of the bowl. Weiss slowly sat up and got out of the bed, Lycana seeming more interested in eating her breakfast. She stood next to Lycana, staring at her with confusion until she looked up at her. She questioned "Can I help you with something?"

"What was that?!" Weiss barked, her face still red from the entire thing.

"That was a kiss, Weiss." Lycana answered between bites of her breakfast. "That's what a person does when they like someone."

"But… why!?"

"Because, you're cute… and a Schnee, and it would be so hot to fuck a Schnee."

Weiss' face lit up a bright red as she stormed out of Lycana's room, heading straight into everyone as they exited the mess hall.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby questioned, easily seeing that Weiss was flustered.

"Fine! I'm fine!" Weiss snapped. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about what just happened. She took a few deeps breaths before finally calming herself down to prevent herself from snapping on her friends again. She asked calmly "What are we doing now?"

"They said it's time to shower up and then we have a class." Blake answered, brushing her hair behind her ear as Gunner walked by.

"Okay, where are the bathrooms? There aren't any in our room." Weiss questioned. Their rooms weren't exactly top notch since they were just carpeted prison cells, so where the bathrooms were was a mystery.

"Don't know. They just said get your stuff and they'll lead the way." Yang answered as she opened the door to their room. The girls shrugged and grabbed their stuff including their clothes for the day and their toiletries. They stepped out seeing everyone else funneling into the hallway and heading towards a door that was to the right of Lycana's door. The only weird thing was… everyone was heading into the door. The girls stood there for a second before Unahk leaned back and called out to them.

"Hey! You coming or what?" Unahk questioned before heading into the bathroom. The girls looked at each other nervously before heading to the bathroom and walking in. The bathroom was much nicer compared to everything else. The entire bathroom was tiled with light gray tile with the first part having several sinks with mirrors above them with three large benches going down the middle. Beyond that was a large shower section with about 10 shower heads in the tiled area. The only problem that the girls saw… there were no walls or borders between the heads or a curtain to keep the showers private.

Everyone else started getting ready for the day, Gunner, Huh, Mel, Ledi and Tenebra took the sinks while Gray, Sanginia, Unahk and Vael went to the showers. What the girls found weird was the four going to the showers simply stripped and dropped their stuff on the bench, showing no signs of shame as they walked in and started the showers.

"This is… odd…" Yang pointed out as she set her stuff on the bench, unsure of what to do. The others stood in the doorway awkwardly until the last member of the Deathwatch walked in, which none of them saw coming. Lycana strode in, immediately slapping Weiss on the rear without breaking stride, and started stripping. Weiss' face turned a bright red as she went to the sink next to Mel, who was in the middle of shaving. Ruby went to the sink next to Huh while Blake unconsciously went to the sink next to Gunner.

Yang took a different route, heading to the shower as she stripped down to her birthday suit. She simply went in and started the shower, listening to the small talk that was going on.

"So, do you know what we're doing today?" Sanginia asked as she started washing her body. Yang turned and couldn't help but chest out her shower mates, seeing that all of them were in pretty good shape. Lycana strode into the shower, Yang noticing the interesting looking collar on her neck that had a few buttons and red light on it.

"We've got a classroom portion on the Imposters and then combat practice." Gray answered as he washed his hair. He turned to wash the back of his head, him and Yang making full eye contact. He continued talking "So, first time in a communal shower?"

"Yeah, but I can't argue against the view." Yang replied as she looked him up and down.

"You get used to it. You see the same dicks and tits every day." Lycana sighed as she started washing herself. "You and your friends are the first new faces since Mel and Vael showed up a couple months back. So… is Weiss single?"

"Yeah… why?" Yang questioned. Lycana seemed like the least stable out of all of the Deathwatch. The last thing she needed was her to have her way with Weiss.

"No reason. Just a little bit of fun before I kick the bucket."

"With the way you fight, I'm surprised you haven't done that already." Vael commented as he counted the drops of body wash he poured into his hand. Yang couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the conversation since it seemed pretty normal. She glanced at the collar around Lycana's neck, trying to figure out what it was. Lycana saw her look and smirked, deciding to answer the question that was obviously on Yang's mind.

"It's a shock collar." Lycana answered as she stared washing her hair. "Something to keep me from misbehaving when they let me out of my room. I figured that's what you wanted to ask since you keep staring at it."

Yang simply nodded and continued showering. Meanwhile conversation continued in the sink area.

"So, Weiss, are you doing okay?" Mel questioned as he finished up shaving. "You seem a bit rattled."

"I'm fine. Why do you care?" Weiss questioned before she started brushing her teeth. All she could think about was that brutish wolf and her current obsession with her.

"Because you're part of the team now, and we all have to look out for each other. Has Lycana… done anything to you? Because we will report it." Mel assured as he put a hand on Weiss' shoulder to comfort her. The last thing they needed was for one of the Deathwatch to simply add more time on their sentence for even more illegal activity. It crossed Weiss' mind to tell him about Lycana's little trick this morning, but something stopped her.

"No… just how she looks at me… like she wants to eat me." Weiss replied. It wasn't entirely untrue… just lacking a lot of detail.

"Okay. Just know that we're all here to protect you, even from us."

Weiss continued brushing her teeth and going on with her morning routine as best she could. Blake brushed her teeth and looked out of the corner of her eye at Gunner, who had just removed his shirt and started pouring shaving cream into his hand.

"I say it every day, but I'm still right." Gray proclaimed as he stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist. "It's weird that you shave your chest."

"It is not weird for me to shave my chest." Gunner argued as he started rubbing the shaving cream on his chest.

"That's still arguable." Mel announced as he started heading for the shower. Gunner simply rolled his eyes as he started shaving his chest, Blake deciding to give her own input.

"I think he looks good with a shaved chest. You can see his muscles better." Blake pointed out as she spat. She felt a blush creep across her face as she realized what she just said. Gunner had the same blush, but a small smile on his face.

"Thanks Blake… you're the first one to defend me." Gunner pointed out as he continued shaving. The rest of the showering and shaving continued as normally for everyone as it could. Everyone went to their rooms, changed into their normal daytime clothing and headed into the common area. The Deathwatch lead Team RWBY through the door that said "COMMAND" to see where most, if not all, of the Deathwatch's funding went. The room was as large as all the other rooms combined into one circular room.

The entire room was metal, looking like the inside of a submarine with two distinct floors. The first was the one they were standing on with computer screens covering the sides with different maps of Remnant. The second had five large terminals with people typing away at them with Romanum standing at the center. There were three more doors at the corners of the room, one on the other side of the room and two at the sides.

"Ah! Good, you're all here. Gunner, Gray, you two are in charge of training our new team." Romanum exclaimed as he looked up to see the teams. The two nodded and the teams headed to the opposite side of the fancy room, the door reading "CLASSROOM". The room was a little bit bigger than the bedrooms and was filled with chairs and long tables. There was a projector on the ceiling that was pointed at a canvas next to a podium and computer.

"Team RWBY! Up front." Gray announced as he stepped behind the podium while Gunner set up the projector. Team RWBY sat at the front desks while everyone else took a spot in the back, adjusting the desks so they could kick their feet up and more than likely nap. Gray opened the computer and opened a file labelled "IMPOSTERS". What came up was an image of the four armed, shell covered Grimm that Team RWBY ran into before.

"So, our lesson today is very simple. You will be learning about one of the bigger Grimm threats to humanity, the Imposters." Gray started the lesson as he clicked to the next slide. It showed the Imposter Grimm with different lesson points. "Your initial stage Imposter, or Purestrain as they're called, are easily identifiable. Characterized by their four arms, bulbous heads and human like build, they are a terrifying threat with claws that can tear through damn near anything."

"An important lesson when dealing with Purestrains, do not get into close combat with one unless you are prepared to handle them. Many of us still bear the scars of fights with them." Gunner added before Grey moved onto the next slide. Ruby looked back to see what the others were up to, seeing most of them were ignoring the actual lesson. Huh was leaned back and sleeping hard while Sanginia and Mel were both reading books. Vael had supplies out that appeared like he was about to take notes, but was more interested in making sure that everything was lined up. Tenebra was sitting in the far back, reading from her own book with her hood pulled up so no one could see her face. Ledi had a pistol out and was more concerned in cleaning it than paying attention. Lycana was the only one that wasn't sitting in the back with everyone, instead she chose to sit next to Weiss, who seemed a bit uncomfortable with her being so close.

"Ruby! Eyes front!" Gray called out, snapping Ruby's attention back to the lesson. "Everyone back there knows how to deal with these things, you don't. This lesson is for you."

"Yes, right. Sorry." Ruby apologized. She felt a bit embarrassed for being called out, so she kept her head down and stared at the few notes she had taken on the Imposters.

"Alight. Moving on, the best way to handle Imposters is from a distance. They're quick and agile, so our best chance at handling these Grimm is with explosives or weapons that can handle area of effect." Gray went on to explain. "Flamethrowers, grenades, and high explosives are the preferred methods. Hand to hand is a last resort, but we'll cover that in lessons later today during our combat training."

Gray went on, showing a new style of Imposter. This one was still alien in appearance, but also seemed to take on the traits of humans. This one stood as tall as the Imposters, but only had three arms, one humanoid while the other two were clawed. The head was still bulbous, but started to look more human. The biggest thing was the skin, still dark in color for a normal person, but starting to tan and lighten.

"This is a Generation One and Two Imposter. They have begun to mutate and take human appearance, but not quite there yet." Gunner explained, taking over the lesson. "While not dangerous like the Purestrains, they have started to use weapons such as knives and pistols. Gen Ones and Twos are normally hidden from the public eye, staying more in sewers and tunnels for ambush attacks."

"The easiest way to handle Gen One and Twos are through ranged combat. Firing at them with your primary weapon will tear through the cardboard they wear as armor with ease. Close combat is a better possibility with these Grimm, but their claws are still just as strong." Gray went over. The last thing he wanted was for their charges to charge into combat with a group of these and not know the danger they presented to them. He moved onto the next Imposter, the Generation Three and Fours. These appeared completely human, nothing really identifying them as Grimm.

"These are your Generation Three and Fours. As you can see, the mutation has completed and they appear completely human. The only thing that would give them away is action and behavior. A Gen Three and Four will appear mechanical, very flat in tone when talking and walking. Other than that, there is no difference." Gray explained. "They can be killed like any other person and they fight just like your average man."

"So, any questions so far?" Gunner asked. Blake put her hand up and asked her question.

"So, there are these Imposter Grimm, but where do they come from? How do they start to mutate?" Blake questioned. These Grimm seemed like a large security issue to the kingdoms, but how did they do it?

"Well, it is unknown where the Imposters originate, but their ability to create other Imposters is quite brilliant." Gunner responded. "You see, the small tail/ stinger that the Imposters have inject their genetic code into a person. Now, I say genetic code since we don't actually know what it is other than it is what triggers the mutation in the person. This first person to mutate become what is known as a Patriarch, the leader of the Imposters. From there, the Patriarch starts to infect others, imprinting them for mutation. These people go about and pass on the mutation like a normal person without actually knowing they did. The mutation is a slow process taking a few years for the subject to know that something is wrong."

"So… they have children that become Grimm?"

"As best we can explain, yes. We don't actually know what happens to a person's soul once the mutation occurs. It's one of the mysteries of Grimm that have forever eluded humanity. All we know is that every Imposter was once a human being or Faunus."

Team RWBY was silent as they looked at their notes, not very happy learning the dark and horrid truth of these Grimm. Gray and Gunner noticed this, remembering their first time learning about Imposters. It was a horrible secret to know, something that could ruin hundreds of thousands of lives and they had to keep it to themselves.

"So what about the Patriarch? What do you know about them?" Weiss questioned, trying to pull their minds away from something like that.

"A Patriarch is the greatest threat in the Imposter Hive. Massive Grimm, standing nearly 20 feet tall, they have the same body structure as a normal Imposter. They have two sets of arms, one claw paired and the other more human. The biggest threat from an Imposter is the ability to toy with a person's mind. We've called this power psychic abilities since that's the closest we've come to understanding such a power." Gray explained. His demeanor grew dark as he warned "If you ever come face to face with a Patriarch, run. Do not attempt to handle one alone because it will kill you without a second thought or an ounce of effort. All resources are poured into emergency situations involving Patriarchs. Is that clear?"

All of Team RWBY nodded, understanding the severity of handling a Patriarch, which did not sound like a pleasant Grimm to deal with. Gray shut down the computer and Gunner turned the projector off, everyone starting to stand up.

"Alright everyone, now for the highlight of our day; combat training." Gray announced with a devious smirk. Team RWBY immediately felt uneasy about that, unsure of what to expect from the Deathwatch.

 **A/N:** There you all go, the next chapter of Deathwatch. I'd like to thank all the followers and those that review for your input and support. Until next chapter.

-Chief


	4. Chapter 4: Put 'Em Up

Chapter 4: Put 'Em Up

The group moved through the Command Center again to grab their weapons, so everyone got to see who was armed with what. Grey and Gunner grabbed their usual weapons, Grey grabbing his claws and Gunner grabbing his grenade launcher cannon. Ledi grabbed her assault rifle and charged it like she was ready to go to work. Vael grabbed the same style of assault rifle, only his had a red casing over the weapon. Mel grabbed a very interesting looking weapon, it looked like a shotgun, but had a small flamethrower attached to the top of it with a small canister towards the back.

He also carried a strange blade, it had a sword hilt, but the rest of the blade was actually a chainsaw that was as long as a sword.

"Wow! What is that?" Ruby questioned as she ogled over the weapon, nearly drooling on it. She had never seen something like that, she had so many questions. Mel smiled a bit, happy that someone had taken notice.

"This, Ruby, is a chainsword. A kinetically powered weapon that tears through most armor, specifically Imposter armor." Mel explained. It was a common weapon of the Deathwatch, so it wasn't really anything special. But Ruby's excitement made it a little bit better.

"That's so cool!" Ruby complimented. A kinetically powered chainsaw that was lightweight enough to swing like a sword? That was simply… unbelievable! Ruby continued looking around at all the different weapons the Deathwatch were armed with. Sanginia was armed with a simple pistol, the same caliber as Blake's, but she had a longsword with runes lining the center. Weiss decided it was her turn to talk weapons and asked her about her blade.

"Sanginia, what type of sword is that?" Weiss questioned. She had seen a blade like that in… ever. The runes on the blade looked old… very old. Sanginia smiled as she sheathed the blade.

"It's a family blade that works with our aura. We put our energy into the blade, and it can slice clear through a person. My family studied the arts of aura manipulation other than the modern uses. This was the result." Sanginia explained. She was excellent with her blade, and her knowledge of aura manipulation made her a force to be reckoned with. The team continued seeing everyone else's weapons Huh being the next one under question. He carried two weapons, each of them connected to his arms, the left arm carried a large gauntlet with a small cannon on the outside of the hand. The gauntlet was large enough to grab a large man's head and crush it with little force.

The other weapon was a massive flamethrower that he carried on his forearm, and it looked heavier than the average flamethrower.

"Holy shit. Carry enough heavy weapons there?* Yang chuckled as she primed Ember Celica. It seemed a little unnecessary for him to carry such heavy weaponry. Huh looked at his weapons, not seeing them as unnecessary since he and Gunner were the heavy weapons experts of the team.

"I mean, I've got the flamethrower to handle any charging Imposter, and this gauntlet with turn anything I punch into red mist." Huh explained as he held his weapons out for everyone to see.

"And what's with the little cannon?"

"That's my anti-armor weapon. It fires a shape charge into vehicles and tears it apart from the inside out." Huh explained. "Can't have Gunner be the only one to take on armor, especially when he does nothing but stare at Blake!"

Everyone turned to Gunner, who immediately spun around and went back to his weapon, face a deep red since he was just caught staring at Blake. Grey laughed and patted Gunner's shoulder while Ledi simply rolled her eyes at the entire thing. They were here to do a job, to learn about the Imposter, not constantly flirt or stare at the new girls. Blake decided she wanted to talk to Tenebra, the quiet mystery girl that seemed to only want to keep to herself. She was carrying a longsword similar to Sanginia's but without the runes on them and a strange looking pistol.

It had the same pistol shape, but had a large light blue Dust crystal on top were the barrel assembly was that glowed a dull blue.

"So, Tenebra… what do you have?" Blake questioned. Honestly, she wasn't expecting an answer at all from her, but she got one. In a very hushed and light tone, Tenebra answered her question.

"Blade… simple, but effective. Dust pistol with ice Dust." Tenebra answered as she holstered her pistol and put the blade on her back. Everyone was in a bit of shock that Tenebra even spoke, since she mainly kept to herself the entire time. Weiss was the next to ask about weapons, mainly since she felt Lycana's eyes on her, and then she felt her hand in the small of her back.

"W-what about you? Your weapons?" Weiss asked nervously as Lycana slid into her vision.

"I'm glad you asked, Beautiful. I carry a personal chainsword, one that has a stronger engine and fire Dust infused teeth, makes cutting through people much… quicker." Lycana whispered darkly into Weiss' ear, the chainsword brushing against her legs. Weiss could also feel a blade at her small of her back, a large hunting knife to be exact. Lycana whispered "And my knife. I like, up close and personal encounters."

Weiss was starting to feel scared when she saw the red light on Lycana's collar turn green, the wolf Faunus jumping and yelping as a static crack went off. Weiss looked around and saw Grey holding a small device.

"Down, dog. Behave, or you'll get it again." Grey threatened in a flat tone, but a look that screamed that he was serious. Lycana smiled at Grey and stepped away, winking at Weiss before she walked away. Weiss felt a large blush creep across her face, since she was attracted to such a show of force from Lycana. She was a free woman, in a matter of speaking. She didn't let anyone get in her way, her determination and confidence was very… alluring.

"Hey, where's Unahk?* Ruby questioned. "Is she going to be joining us?"

"Doubtful. She's a biker, so she fights from her bike." Gunner replied.

"Alright! Let's get to the arenas. Gunner and I will train RWBY, the rest partner up and spar for a bit." Grey called as they crossed from the armory into the training arenas. It was very similar to the one they had at Beacon, only this one had several platforms instead of just the one, but they were only half the size. Grey jumped up onto the platform and rolled his shoulders as everyone headed to different platforms. Everyone else went to the other raised platforms while Ledi and Lycana decided to stay and watch how Team RWBY stacked up to the members of the Deathwatch. Grey called "Alright! Ruby first. Step on up."

Ruby jumped up to the platform with Crescent Rose in the sniper form. She had a few questions about the combat training.

"So… how is this going to work? Do we fight until our Aura is gone? Or…" Ruby started to question. Grau cut her off with the cold reality of it.

"An Imposter will not stop the fight when your Aura breaks. We will fight until first blood or when one is knocked out cold… but for simplicity's sake getting knocked out of the arena." Grey explained. These four needed to go up against the most ruthless Grimm there were, and they needed to understand that.

"Okay, makes sense. So how will we know when the fight be-". Ruby started. She was cut off as Grey suddenly flew forward, his claws deploying and swinging straight for Ruby's side. Ruby ducked under the swing and fired a round straight into Grey's gut, sending him flying back. He landed on his feet, digging his claws into the ground to slow his drag. Grey didn't let up his assault, using the claws dug into the ground for leverage, he threw himself forward at Ruby.

Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and swung, deflecting Grey's claws that were aimed for her. Grey recovered quickly at started swinging at Ruby's sides, Ruby swinging her scythe to deflect the claws. The only thing she could really do was stay on the defensive, sparks flying at the clashing metal. Ruby finally pushed him off of her and started firing rounds at Grey to keep him off of her. Grey's area of expertise was clearly in close combat, so Ruby had to keep Grey back.

Unfortunately, Grey knew his strengths and weaknesses, and deployed the second part of his claws; the pistol additions. He started punching forward, sending bullets flying at Ruby, putting her back on the defensive. It became a shooting contest, the rest of Team RWBY taking cover while the three members of Deathwatch stood like statues, observing every move and reaction of the fight. Eventually, both of them ran out of ammo, and neither wanted the other to reload, so they charged. Ruby swung hard with her scythe, firing a round to propel herself forward towards Grey.

Grey saw the shot coming and prepared to dodge. Ruby swung her scythe, seeing that Grey didn't look like he was prepared to dodge. But something strange happened… she swung at Grey, but nothing happened. She swung and he was still coming at her, like her scythe phased right through him. Luckily, she used her semblance to duck under Grey's swing, but her kept going and grabbed her cloak. Grey then proceeded to throw her back, the force yanking Crescent Rose out of her hands. Grey then wrapped Ruby's cloak around her head and delivered a hard punch to it.

"And this…" Grey stated as he wrapped his arms around the disoriented Ruby's waist, "is how we pluck a rose!"

Grey then lifted her off her feet and suplexed her, slamming the top of her head into the ground. Ruby went limp for a second as Grey stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, that's the end of that. You okay, Ruby?" Grey questioned as he went over to Crescent Rose.

"Yeah… just a headache." Ruby groaned as she sat up, trying to unwrap her cloak from her head.

"Cool. Think fast!"

Grey then kicked Crescent Rose at Ruby, trying to get her to catch it. Unfortunately, it took Ruby a little bit longer than expected to get her cloak off her head, getting it off as soon as Crescent Rose was a few inches from her face. Ruby took her weapon to the forehead, knocking her flat on her back. Grey immediately put his hands over his mouth with a shocked look.

"Oh fuck!" Grey gasped as he ran to Ruby, seeing if she was okay. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Ruby groaned as she sat up, rubbing her forehead where she took her weapon. Grey helped her to her feet and grabbed Crescent Rose for her, but not tossing it this time. Ruby swayed a bit, clear that she wasn't doing too well after taking a scythe to the face. Ledi called for Huh, who walked over and saw the issue at hand.

"Don't worry, I'll get her to the infirmary." Huh stated as he guided Ruby off the platform. Ruby was still a little wobbly, so Huh took it slow for her. Ledi took over his fight, leaving Gunner and Lycana to observe the remaining Team RWBY fights.

"So… who's next?" Grey questioned, a little unsure since he figured no one would want to fight. To his surprise, Weiss stepped up onto the platform with her rapier ready. Lycana started to whistle and cheer for Weiss, adding in the occasional howl. Weiss blushed a bit since she never really had anyone cheer for her other than her team… it was a nice feeling. Grau smirked as they started pretty close together, readying his claws, but looking at her feet, he lowered his claws and pointed at her feet. He stated "What kind of heels are those? Vintone?"

"What? My… heels?" Weiss questioned. He was correct in the maker of her shoes, custom fit for her and to give her an edge in combat.

"Yeah, are they Vitone?" Grey questioned as he stepped closer to inspect them.

"Yes, they are. How did you know?" Weiss questioned. She was more preoccupied with answering his question that by the time she realized what was happening, it was too late. Once Grau was close enough, her pulled back and delivered a hard uppercut to Weiss' gut, sending her flying off the raised platform. Weiss crashed onto her back, causing Lycana to run to her side and make sure that she was okay.

"Hey! Don't hurt her!" Lycana barked at Grey, who went to the edge and knelt to see if Weiss was alright. Grey started flatly at her and addressed her in a calm, but stern voice.

"Lycana, don't make me come down there because you know what will happen if I do." Grey stated sternly, no infliction of anger or threat in his voice. Yang watched as something strange, and a little terrifying happened. Lycana slunk back a bit, her ears lowering as she refused to meet Grey's stony gaze. The fact that Lycana, the psychotic murderer, viewed Grey as a more dominant figure… was honestly a bit attractive. Grey questioned "You alright down there, Weiss?"

"I'm fine…" Weiss groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. She looked up at Grey and glared, irritated at his methods of fighting. She barked "You cheated!"

"Here's an easy rule to remember; if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." Grey pointed out as he stood up and headed back to the center of the arena. Next up was Blake, Gunner taking a quick look at her rear as she jumped up. Yang elbowed him a bit and offered some friendly advice.

"Quick tip; Just ask her out. She'll say yes." Yang advised, getting Gunner's face to turn red. Yang chuckled as the fight started, Blake and Grau squaring off. The two charged each other, Blake separating her weapon to compensate for Grey's twin claws, the blades clashing in a shower of sparks. The crowd watched as the flurry of blows went off, other fights stopping to watch and see who would win. Blake caught one lucky blow, parrying Grey's claws and delivering an elbow to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Grey stumbled back and Blake delivered a powerful kick to his gut, sending him stumbling back. Blake didn't want this opportunity to end, so she threw Gambol shroud with the intent on wrapping him and throwing him. What actually happened went very differently. Grey had recovered enough to grab Gambol Shroud and look at her with a cocky grin.

"You know… contrary to popular belief…" Grey started as he suddenly yanked on Gambol shroud, yanking Blake straight at him. Grey finished "Cats don't always land on their feet!"

Grey threw a hard kick that nailed Blake in the stomach, throwing her straight off the arena. Lucky for Blake, she was thrown into something soft; Gunner. Gunner stood and watched as Blake flew into him, knocking both of them to the ground. Blake groaned as she sat up, opening her eyes to see that she was basically straddling Gunner, causing both of them to blush loudly. They could hear a few snickers and chuckles from the others around them, both of them wishing they were anywhere but where they were now. Gunner figured now was as good a time as any.

"Blake, do you want to do something later? Watch a movie, maybe?" Gunner asked, avoiding eye contact with Blake since she was nearly riding him.

"Y-yeah… sure…" Blake answered as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. She would have been a lot happier about the moment, if she wasn't currently sitting on top of him.

"That's the pool everyone! They started today! Check the chart and we'll see who the winner was!" Lycana announced to several groans. Gunner and Blake separated, both of them still blushing hard.

"Wait… you guys had a pool on us!?" Gunner barked looking at everyone. "When did this start?!"

"During class. We saw the way you two just stared at each other, so we made a pool on when you two would stop playing around." Mel answered as he hopped off his platform with Sanginia. Everyone walked over for the final fight, wanting to see if the blonde brawler could stand up to Grey. Yang hopped up on the platform and readied Ember Celica. She was a tad miffed that Grey had basically cheated every single fight he'd gone into, so she brought it up.

"So, fighting dirty your style?" Yang questioned as they started to circle each other. Grey chuckled a bit since they still didn't see that any advantage they could get was one worth taking.

"You fight fair, you fight to lose. Imposters don't fight fair, so neither will I." Grey stated as he lunged forward, taking the first strike. Yang blocked the blows easily and started firing Ember Celica, Grey dodging the blasts with relative ease. Grey continued "Besides, fighting you four is pretty easy."

"Really? Easy?" Yang grunted as she blocked several blows from Grey, forcing her to the defensive.

"Yeah… really. Watch." Grey grunted as he swung for her head. She dodged the swing, but that wasn't his real target. He managed to slice a strand of her hair, and Yang saw it clear as day. Her eyes suddenly turned a scorching red as her hair became an inferno.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" She bellowed as she charged forward at Grey, who had a smug smirk on his face. Everyone watched as Grey detracted his claws when Yang's fiery onslaught started, throwing punches at lightning speed. But when they couldn't see, was Grau was deflecting every punch, not a single one landing. This only pissed Yang off more, which made her angrier and made her swing even harder. Everyone watched in disbelief as Grey managed to survive Yang's onslaught, leaving her drained and exhausted.

"Quick tip, beautiful. I've managed for fend of things with four arms and claws, you only have two." Grey chuckled as he patted Yang on the shoulder. Yang panted and smiled, knowing when she was beat, giving Grey a thumbs up. Grey was about to laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit, so he covered his mouth until it was over. Yang noticed that when he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood. Her eyes went wide as he started to wipe it in his jacket, concealing the blood as he made his next announcement.

"Alright everyone! Break for lunch! The rest of the day is yours!" Grey announced as he hopped off the platform. Everyone cheered as they headed back to the armory to turn their gear in.

O00000O00000O

In the infirmary, the nurse checked Ruby out to ensure that she didn't have any kind of life threatening damage. Luckily Ruby only got a decent sized bruise from taking her own weapon to the face. Huh sat with her the entire time after dropping their weapons off.

"So, how you feeling, Little Red?" Huh questioned as the nurse stepped away.

"I have a headache, but that's about it." Ruby grumbled, rubbing the sore spot on her head. She figured Grey would do some dirty trick like suplexing her, but she didn't expect Crescent Rose hitting her in the forehead.

"I'm sure Grey didn't mean anything by it. He's an asshole, sure, but he's a good guy. I'm betting it was just an accident."

"Yeah, I know… I'm still gonna be mad about it." Ruby stated with a small smile. She thought it was weird, the Deathwatch. Everyone was convicted of a heinous and horrible crime… and yet all of them seemed like really nice people. Ruby decided to ask "Hey Huh… why are you here?"

"Well, I'm a nice guy and wanted to make sure you were okay." Huh answered plainly. Kinda seemed like a stupid question, but everyone was entitled to those.

"No… on the Deathwatch… if you don't mind me asking…"

Huh took a deep breath and sighed since he really didn't like talking about it. But, he needed Team RWBY to trust them if there was going to be any group cohesion among them.

"Well… it all started a few years back. I'm from Vacuo, just so you know… and I had a little sister. She was about your age…" Huh started to explain. He stopped as he felt himself start to choke up a bit. It was rough, explaining the reason he was in the Deathwatch. He swallowed his sadness and continued "Then one day… I came home to find the place was broken into… and someone had… raped and killed her…"

Ruby instantly felt terrible for asking about something so personal. She got off the examining table and sat next to Huh, putting a hand on his knee as a sign of comfort.

"I'm sorry… you don't have to keep going…" Ruby apologized. She didn't want him to keep going if it meant causing so much pain. Huh smiled a put, putting his hand on hers as a sign that her comfort was accepted.

"Don't worry… justice was found… and that's why I'm here… for about 10 years." Huh answered as he wiped his eyes.

"Still… sorry…"

"No need to apologize. It was bound to happen anyway, me telling you that is. Or at least your team. Well, they're probably done training and breaking for lunch. Let's join them." Huh sighed as he started to feel the sadness wash off his shoulders. The two stood up and headed for the mess hall, finding that everyone else was already getting their food. The lunch for the day was blackened grilled cheese and hit or miss fries. The group found their spots at the table, Tenebra actually joining them for once.

"Hey Huh, you won the pool." Lycana exclaimed as she slide a packet of lien at him. Huh chuckled as he pocketed his winnings. He saw the way Gunner and Blake looked at each other, so he knew that it wouldn't be long before they gave into their feelings.

"I figured as much. These two made googly eyes at each other way too often to deny their feelings." Huh chuckled as he ate his sandwich. Gunner and Blake both blushed, even though they were holding hands under the table. Everyone chuckled except for Ledi, who never really laughed, and Tenebra, who never really spoke.

"Wait… you two are dating?!" Ruby nearly shouted, getting a bigger laugh out of everyone since she wasn't in the loop. She saw the two blush and lean against each other, making it clear that they were. Ruby smiled and added "Well, you two are cute together, so I'm happy for the two of you."

"Thanks, Ruby." Blake replied, honestly wanting the attention off of them. It was nice that Gunner had asked her out, but she didn't quite like that everyone's eyes were on them. Lunch broke and they were free to do what they wanted. As they headed out, Lycana smacked Weiss' rear again, making a comment as she walked by.

"If you want to swing by my room, bring a game. I don't get many visitors." Lycana commented as she headed towards her room. Weiss blushed hard, not liking that she did that every chance she got. Regardless, she went to the gaming section of the common area and started looking at the games they had.

"You know you don't have to go hang out with her." Grey pointed out as he grabbed a pool stick while Yang racked the balls.

"I know… but she doesn't deserve to sit alone in her prison cell." Weiss answered as she grabbed the chess board and headed to Lycana's cell. One of the Deathwatch employees walked by with Lycana's shock collar, so Weiss knew she was chained to her room. Weiss walked in without fear, seeing that Lycana was already getting out of her pants to get comfortable. Lycana smiled at Weiss as she went to the table Lycana had, tossing her pants on the end of her bed.

"I knew you'd come. Thanks… by the way… gets a little lonely." Lycana replied as she slipped her arms inside her shirt, only for them to come out with her bra in hand. Weiss blushed a bit thinking about Lycana without her shirt as she started to set up the board. Lycana sat in her seat, sitting in a pretty unladylike position, leaning back with her legs spread pretty wide. Weiss cleared her throat and sat down on the opposite to her, sitting with her legs closed. Lycana leaned forward and questioned "How about we make this a bit interesting?"

"I bet this is a wonderful idea. What is it?" Weiss sighed and then questioned. She was already sure it was going to be something inappropriate, but she was willing to hear her out.

"Strip chess. Every game, lose a piece of clothing. Sound like a deal?" Lycana wagered. Weiss smirked a bit since she saw how Lycana fought. She was a storm of strikes and blows, no rhyme or reason, so she was sure that Lycana played the exact same way.

"You know what… deal." Weiss stated as she took the first move. Lycana smirked and the two began their game.

O00000O00000O

Gunner and Blake decided to watch a movie, Gunner sitting on the end while Blake took up the rest of the couch, leaning on Gunner with her legs up on the couch. Gunner nervously put his arm around Blake's shoulders, but he kinda melted into it once he got it there. The movies started and Blake snuggled up to Gunner, smiling as they watched. Curiosity started to seep into Blake's mind, trying to figure out why such a nice guy like Gunner ended up in the Deathwatch.

"Gunner… why are you in the Deathwatch?" Blake asked. If they were going to date… she needed to know why he was there. Gunner took a deep breath and sighed since he knew he was going to have to tell her eventually, so why not do it now.

"Well… it started when I was a grunt in the Atlesian Infantry. We were tasked to handle a White Fang pocket that had been the cause of a lot of terrorist attacks and deaths. Long story short, we found them… but they sprinted into a crowd. My sergeant wanted them dead at all costs… he ordered us to fire into the crowd." Gunner recounted. That was one of the worst days of his life, ordered to open fire on civilians, nearly a hundred, just to stop three terrorists. He went on "I refused, so he pulled his gun on me and ordered me to fire… so I did… on him. I shot him down without a second thought, and then the rest of the squad turned their weapons on me."

Blake listened to him recount his awful tale of having to kill his entire team. The people he trusted with his life had betrayed him and he was left standing to take the blame for everything. Gunner looked at his feet, his arm starting to slink off of her shoulders. She quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm back around her, keeping him close.

"Gunner… you did nothing wrong." Blake attempted to rationalize. Gunner was ordered to murder innocent civilians, and instead he was forced to kill the team he was on. And what did he get in return for doing the right thing? Sent on a suicide squad. Blake went on "You aren't a bad person for what you did."

"I know… thanks…" Gunner replied as he leaned his head on Blake's, mindful of her ears. He knew that she was a Faunus since it was listed in her file, but he wanted her to tell him on her own time. Honestly, her being a Faunus wasn't that big a deal to him, plus he was always a cat person. Blake cuddled into his shoulder, smiling that she knew why he was here. Yang and Grey looked at the two cuddling on the couch, Yang chuckling while Grey made a vomiting sound.

"Aren't they just cute together?" Yang questioned as she leaned on her pool stick. Grey lined up the cue ball and hit it, breaking the mass and sending a striped ball into the corner hole.

"Yeah, nauseatingly cute. Damn, I had 100 lien on next week. Why couldn't he just continue being bashful and spineless with her?" Grey grumbled as he took his next shot, sinking another ball.

"Come on, everyone deserves someone. They were just lucky enough to find each other already."

"Yeah, so long as he stays alive during his next however many years on the Watch." Grey chuckled as he took another shot, missing it this time. Yang rolled her eyes as she lined up her shot, even though she knew that was a complete possibility. The Deathwatch was meant to handle dangerous Grimm and who knows what else, and they weren't exactly expected to survive.

"I hope he does… the last thing we need is a heart broken Blake." Yang stated as she took her shot, the ball just barely tapping the corner of the pocket and bouncing off.

"Agreed. I'd be pretty upset that Gunner would be dead… or anyone on the Watch. Say, does Weiss have a "bad girl" thing? Because she's taken a pretty big interest in Weiss."

Yang simply shrugged as Grey took his shot. It was true, after their last exchange, she figured that Weiss would stay as far away from Lycana as possible. But it seemed like it had the opposite effect, like she was now drawn to her.

"Who knows, maybe she does." Yang answered as Grey sunk another ball.

"Well, to each their own." Grey grumbled as he started lining over his next shot.

O00000O00000O

Soon enough, dinner rolled around and the group went in to the mess hall. Today's dinner was slop, and Team RWBY minus Weiss were assured that it wouldn't kill them. For some reason, Weiss didn't show to dinner. Everyone grabbed their dinner with Ruby drawing to give Lycana her dinner. Ruby sighed as she took Lycana's bowl and headed down the hall. When she got halfway down, she saw Weiss walk out with a deep red face and most of her clothing in her arms. Weiss froze when she spotted Ruby, face turning as red and Ruby's cloak.

"Um… Weiss?" Ruby questioned, unsure of what to do. Weiss marched to her and nearly snarled at her.

"You will tell no one of this… EVER." Weiss growled, clear that she wanted this moment to go to their graves. A quick whistle caused both of them to look back to see Lycana standing in her doorway with Weiss' panties on her pointer finger.

"Come back anytime to try and win these back." Lycana chuckled as she spun them on her pointer finger. Weiss simply growled at Lycana before disappearing into her room, Lycana laughing. She questioned after she was done laughing "So, what's for dinner today?"

"Um… slop." Ruby answered as she headed over to Lycana, handing her the bowl. Lycana took it as she stuffed Weiss' underwear into her cleavage, licking her lips. She then looked at Ruby, reaching out and brushing her new bruise with her thumb.

"Ouch. I saw the hit. How are you feeling?"

"Uh, fine?"

"That's good. Go easy on Grey, since I know he didn't do it on purpose. He's a good man."

Ruby thought it was a little weird for Lycana to defend Grey since she only saw them butt heads.

"Yeah, I know it was an accident…" Ruby replied, really unsure of how to react.

"Good. Have a good night, Ruby." Lycana replied as she headed back into her room, starting to drink her dinner.

O00000O00000O

The rest of the night was uneventful, everyone heading to bed at the end of the night. Gunner and Blake met outside his door, both of them holding each other's hands. The entire sight was nauseatingly adorable as Gunner leaned in and kissed her cheek. Team RWBY headed into their rooms and started to change into their pajamas as they discussed today's events.

"So, Grey is a pretty rough combat teacher." Ruby chuckled as she rubbed her bruise.

"Yeah, even though he basically cheated every fight." Weiss brought up, a bit sore that she didn't really get to fight.

"I think it costed him a bit. After my fight he was coughing up blood." Yang pointed out. She was a bit worried that he didn't seem to mind about coughing up so much blood.

"Did he not seem worried about it?" Blake questioned as she changed into her robe.

"Not at all. He just wiped it off on his jacket and went on with his day."

"Maybe you can ask him about it tomorrow."

"Yeah, and you and Gunner can start tongue wrestling." Yang laughed as she climbed into her bunk. Blake blushed hard at the thought since it wasn't too far off from what she wanted to do. Gunner was kind, sweet, handsome, and ripped. Blake shook her head of the thoughts and climbed into bed. Yang also questioned "Hey Weiss, you got a thing for bad girls?"

"Why would you ask such a question?" Weiss responded with her back to the other bunks.

"Because you spend quite a bit of time with Lycana."

"It's none of your business what I do."

"Girls, be nice. Weiss can hang out with whoever she wants. Now get some sleep. We don't know what tomorrow holds, so we'll have to be ready." Ruby pointed out, trying to get everyone to calm down. Today was a real surprise, learning all about their adversaries and the different combat styles of the Deathwatch. Tomorrow… tomorrow was a mystery, and for the first time since they met the Deathwatch, they weren't afraid.

 **A/N:** There's the next chapter for you! Hope everyone enjoyed this new look at the Watch and its members, as well as the different weapons and relationships that have developed. Feel free to PM any thoughts, comments, or concerns with the chapter. Until next time!

-Chief


	5. Chapter 5: The First Job

Chapter 5: The First Job

It had been three days since Team RWBY had their first class on the Imposters and combat practice with the Deathwatch. So far it had been pretty good training with the different members of the team as well as getting to know them and their fighting styles. Team RWBY stood pretty well against the members of Deathwatch, but they easily figured out who stood at the top. From their experience, Grau and Huh were tied for the top, Grau was nearly a blur on the stage and Huh hit like a freight train combined with a semi-truck. Then Gunner and Tenebra were the top two for shooting, Gunner using his frag cannon with devastating accuracy while Tenebra was a sniper with her pistol, hitting the vital spots with a single shot.

All in all, they were having fun, Weiss being the only one to complain since she continued losing articles of clothing to bets with Lycana. For her rough and nearly maniacal stature, she was actually quite brilliant. The teams were relaxing in the common area, minus Weiss and Lycana, when Romanum entered the common area from the Command Section. All of the Deathwatch stood, all of them with serious faces, so they knew that something was amiss.

"Everyone, we've found something." Romanum announced. The techs had been analyzing the patterns of the groups past missions. The ultimate objective was to find the Patriarch and the nest of Imposters, but they were a crafty Grimm. With their ability to appear human, they could send out Purestrain Imposters as well as the lower generations to spread their disease. He went on "We may have found a lead on a potential Imposter Depot. I want everyone armed up and ready in thirty."

Weiss and Lycana were alerted and Lycana was given her shock collar as everyone else headed for the armory. Team RWBY was a bit worried since they hadn't dealt with the Imposters on their ground before, and the Watch was a lot more serious than before. Everyone was gathering their weapons up and checking them, ensuring that they wouldn't fail them in the field. Ruby decided to question what they were doing.

"So… what can we expect?" Ruby asked as she lubed up Crescent Rose.

"More than likely a ton of Gen 3 and 4s… possibly Purestrain. The Imposter Depots are where they send out weapons, armor, vehicles and other Imposters to their outposts." Huh explained as she dawned his gauntlet and flamethrower. He was a bit worried, unsure if Team RWBY was ready to actually fight the Imposters.

"Are you sure we're ready? I mean…" Blake questioned. Someone on Team RWBY had to be the skeptic, and it was usually her. From their lessons, the Imposters were a dangerous, violent Grimm that were driven by some twisted desire to cause chaos. Gunner set his frag cannon down and walked over to her, taking her hands into his and staring onto her eyes.

"Blake, our mission is to keep you safe, to show you our world. But it's my mission to keep you safe… and I will give my life to do that." Gunner assured. He cared deeply about Blake, the last thing he wanted to do was to see her get hurt. Blake was about to say something, but the group all groaned at the small speech, even Team RWBY did.

"You two… are disgustingly together." Yang groaned as she primed Ember Celica. She certainly was happy for Gunner and Blake, but they were still in that gross phase of the relationship. Gunner chuckled in an embarrassed tone and looked at his hands holding Blake's. Blake slipped one hand out of his and pushed his chin up a bit, just enough for her to steal a quick kiss on his lips. Gunner blinked in surprise that Blake had done that since the last time they kissed was when Romanum made her.

Gunner kinda lost control of himself, and pressed his lips back to Blake's, his hands grabbing her hips and pulling her close. Blake went a bit wide eyed, but melted into the kiss, her arms draping over his shoulders. This kiss was a lot more… pleasurable… since it was her choice to kiss him. The group couldn't help themselves and aww'd at the couple, thinking they were cute. The moment ended as Romanum stepped through the door to the armory, wearing something completely different than he usually did.

He wore a black shirt with a tactical harness that held several pistol magazines with black pants and a pistol holster on his hip. He looked at the two that were lip locked, but they separated instantly, both with bright red faces. Everyone expected Romanum to tell them to separate, to stay away from each other and that it was not their job to get involved with the team. Instead, he chuckled and patted both of them on the heads.

"Ah, young love. Is everyone prepared?" Romanum questioned as he grabbed a pistol from the rack of weapons. Everyone nodded as they held their weapons, ready to head out on their mission. Romanum smiled and continued "Then let's get going."

The teams headed out of the base, up the elevator and to the Blackstar. Unahk grabbed her bike from the warehouse and started rolling it towards the ship. Four Seven Niner was already on the ship, going through preflight checks as everyone started putting their weapons on the racks in the back.

"Feels good to be getting back to work. Thought we'd never leave." Niner commented as she spun her seat around. There were a few chuckles as everyone started taking their seats, Team RWBY finding their place since everyone seemed to have their own seat already planned out. But the team was nice enough to allow Blake and Gunner to sit next to each other while Romanum sat up near the cockpit.

"Alright, Niner, take us to the designated point." Romanum ordered.

"You got it, boss."

Everyone locked themselves into their seats as the engines started to roar to life, the ship starting to lift off from the ground. The ship was completely smooth during the take-off, as well as the flight. It wasn't a long flight since, according to the team, the Blackstar travelled about 5 times faster than the current fastest bullhead and had an engine so quiet you would never know it was there unless you were listening for it. On the way, Romanum gave them the full briefing.

"So, here's the situation. An Imposter convoy was spotted moving to an unmarked warehouse depot in northern Vale. Two semi-trucks with trailers, three soft trucks and two armored trucks with heavy machine gun turrets on top. Our source puts the numbers to at least 22 Gen 4s, as well as a large number of Purestrain Imposters. The exact numbers are unknown, but the best guess is anywhere between 20 and 30. We'll be hitting them at the actual depot, where they'll be the most vulnerable." Romanum briefed. It seemed simple enough, but things were hardly ever that simple.

"So… what's in the semi-trucks?" Ruby questioned with a raised hand.

"In one truck, probably the Purestrain Imposters set for the next city to infect with their disease. The other is probably loaded with weapons and armor for the Generation 3s and 4s. Next question."

"Sir, which should Huh and I target first? The semi-trucks or the armored trucks?" Gunner questioned. Huh and him were the two heavy weapon wielders, so they were usually the ones that dealt with armor and vehicles.

"Gunner, take armored trucks. Huh, handle the semis. We don't need any of them getting away from us. But first things first, we need recon. Unahk, that's you and Shankor. Give us an on-site eye on the depot. Everyone else, squad up and split into two teams. Grey, Mel, Ledi, Lycana, Vael and Tenebra, you will be Alpha Squad, along with Ruby and Weiss. Focus on handling the light armored targets, like the foot soldiers." Romanum explained. Alpha squad was the best equipped to handle infantry with speed and range. Bravo Team was going to be the heavy hitters, ready to take out armor and vehicles. "Bravo Team will be myself, Gevehr, Huh, Sanginia and Unahk with Shonkor, Blake and Yang. We'll focus on vehicles, their drivers, and armor. Everyone have their roles?"

Everyone nodded and started to make peace with what they were about to do, at least for Team RWBY. They were about to start shooting up a truck depot full of beings that looked completely human, even though they were the farthest thing from it. For the Deathwatch, this was their basic work day. From what they knew, there was one dirt road that ran north and south straight down the center of the depot with three large warehouses on the eastern side of the depot. There were two concrete shacks that acted as guard posts with flood lights to watch the entrances, which were the only way in due to the large fence that surrounded the depot, plus the large, thick forest surrounding it.

The only other structure was a one story metal shack that probably acted as the command post. Niner set them down a few hundred meters to the south of the depot, where the Deathwatch separated into their two teams. Gunner and Blake shared a quick kiss, while Lycana gave Weiss a smack on the rear for luck, which earned her a slap across the face.

"How'd you know I like it rough?" Lycana chuckled as she rubbed her cheek. She took a step towards Weiss, but quickly backed off as she got a shock from her collar.

"Down, or I crank it up." Grey warned in his threatening not threatening tone. Now Weiss noticed that Lycana kinda shrunk away from her and Grey. She could only wonder what Grey had done to command such fear out of a woman that seemed to show none… ever.

"Enough. Bravo Team, we'll be heading towards the roads behind the vehicles. Alpha Team, get behind the warehouses and wait for the shooting to start." Romanum ordered as he drew his pistol, everyone snapping to attention. The teams separated and headed towards their areas, Alpha team stopping just at the fence, but in the woods to avoid detection. Weiss and Ruby watched as two of the Gen 4s patrolled the fence line, unable to think that they were really Grimm in disguise. Bravo Team rounded the depot to the north entrance, all of them priming their weapons for the attack. Romanum went first, using his ability on the guard inside the shack.

Bravo Team moved up with him as the guard froze in his tracks, grabbed his pistol and put it under his chin. The second the shot rang out, everyone began firing. Huh raised his gauntlet and fired the shape charge at the closest semi-truck, which was sitting in the northernmost warehouse, getting a lucky shot and igniting the gas tank. The tanks exploded and rendered the truck useless, drawing the rest of the Imposters out, along with Alpha Team. Gunner took aim with his grenade cannon, firing two shells into the closest armor vehicle and blowing it up. Unahk flew ahead on her motorcycle, pulling a curved blade that was stashed on the right side, and sliced the tires of the normal trucks. Luckily, she was also able to slice a leg off of two of the Gen 4 Imposters.

Sanginia walked side by side with Romanum, both of them dumping bullets from their pistols into the unarmored windows of the trucks, blood splatter signaling they were hitting the occupants. Blake and Yang moved up with them, Yang dumping concussive blasts into the other semi, hitting it right in the grill and tearing open the radiator. Blake shot forward at the command shack and started swinging at the Imposters that were coming out to investigate the disturbance. Two were cut down immediately, black smoke pouring out instead of blood, before they even knew they were in melee combat.

Alpha Team started moving the second they heard the first shot ring, Mel slicing through the fence with ease using his chainsword. The second the fence was open, Lycana charged through with her own chainsword and pistol drawn with a bloodthirst howl going straight for the two guards that passed them. Ruby went next and spotted two more guard that were approaching from the south, and they spotted them easily. Ruby used her semblance and shot forward, swinging her massive scythe and cleaving through the two Gen 4s like a knife through butter. The pieces flew aside with black smoke pouring through the wounds.

Weiss moved with Ruby to ensure that she would be okay and not overwhelmed. She moved past the downed guards and spotted the one on the southern guard shack, who was set up in the doorway and firing at Bravo Team with an assault rifle. Weiss spun the chamber on Myrtenaster to the fire Dust, and threw a fire slash at him, turning him to ash almost instantly. Grey moved between the warehouses with his claws extended, ready to take on any Imposters that got in his way. Unfortunately, two did.

Grey lowered himself and charged with a hardy cry, the two turning towards him with their weapons raised. They started firing, but Grey had an ace up his sleeve. He had unlocked his Semblance, the ability to speed himself for a short amount of time. Granted, he still used up the stamina that would normally be used for such an action, so he could only do quick bursts. He sped himself up, able to out maneuver the bullets and slash his claws through their sides. He slowed himself down, but was still able to spin and take the heads off of the Imposters.

He slid to a stop and coughed a bit hard, a little bit of blood hitting the ground with his spit. He simply wiped his mouth and kept pushing, seeing Vael put a perfect square of shots into another Gen 4s chest. He had to give him props, for a guy with extreme OCD, he was a hell of a shot. He always clustered his shots perfectly, but also went on a mad, homicidal spree whenever he couldn't get something perfect. All of the Gen 4s were wiped pretty quickly with their two pronged assault, so all that was left was the semi-truck full of Purestrain Imposters.

"Everyone line up! We're lighting this trailer up!" Romanum called as he pointed his pistol at the truck Yang had lit up. Everyone started getting their weapons ready when they heard the truck doors open, then the sound of claws racking across metal. That horrid, spine chilling sound as a large number of Imposters started charging from between the warehouse door and the truck. Huh was the first to react, activating his flamethrower and enveloping the doorway in flames. A few of the Purestrains made it through the fire, charging the group with hatred burning in their eyes.

Lycana howled with glee as she charged the first Purestrain, her chainsword revving hard and her knife at her side. She swung the chainsword and clashed with the Purestrain's hand and cut right through it without a hitch. The Grimm howled in pain as it gripped it's now bleeding stump, but Lycana didn't stop there. She pulled back and slammed her chainsword down on the Purestrain Imposter's head, cutting through it with a sickening cracking sound. She ripped back and pulled her chainsword free, the Grimm collapsing into black smoke.

Three Imposters jumped Sanginia and Ledi, who stood their ground against the snarling Grimm. Ledi raised her rifle and started blasting them with controlled bursts, dropping two of them as her bullets ripped through their heads. The bodies hit the ground, turning to smoke within a few seconds of going still. Next was Sanginia, who was putting bullets from her pistol at the Grimm, keeping it slowed down. She just needed a bit of time for her to charge her blade with her aura.

Once it was fully charged, Sanginia stopped her assault and let the Purestrain Imposter get close to her. The Grimm charged her with renewed ferocity, enraged by the constant barrage of bullets, but ready for blood. Sanginia stood with her blade at the ready for the Grimm to cross her, because the second it did, she swung her blade and cleaved through the Imposter. The aura charged blade cut through the claws, through the armor and clean in half. The Grimm landed with a hard thud and started to disintegrate.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief since the Grimm were dealt with so easily. The relief was short lived as a loud thud resonated from the semi-trailer and a large dent protruded from the side, and it was shaped like a fist. Everyone readied their weapons as more dents started protruding from the trailer until it started getting torn open. The creatures that walked out of the torn open trailer were massive, hulking beasts that Team RWBY had never even seen or thought of. There were four of them, all about 10 feet tall with hunch backs and bulging muscles. They had loincloths on, which covered their lower halves, but could still show the large, muscular legs to hold up such a behemoth.

The creatures had three arms, one on one side with two on the other. The two arms had three fingers that were all clawed like the Purestrain Imposters. The single arm was shaped like a normal humans, but it had the bone armor on their forearms. Their skin was a dark gray color with splotches of black, like it was still converting into a human. The two eyes they had were still a bloody, scorching red as they roared with bestial fury while the head looked like a cross between a human head and a Purestrain Imposter head.

"Abomination!" Romanum shouted as he raised his pistol. Everyone started blasting rounds into the Abominations, which barely even phased them. The front one roared and started shambling towards them, nearly dragging their oversized knuckles across the ground. Luckily, the beasts didn't move too fast… nor did they seem too smart. The Watch split off to take on each Abomination. Team RWBY was one group. Grey, Gunner, Lycana and Ledi took one. Romanum, Sanginia and Tenebra took the next. Huh, Mel, Unahk and Vael took the final abomination.

Grau and Lycana started slashing at their Abomination, aiming for its head and neck to put it on the defensive. The Abomination used two of its arms to block its face while Gunner and Ledi moved around the behemoth, trying to get a shot that would bring the beast down. The Abomination roared as he flung his arms, knocking Lycana aside and into the front of the semi-truck. Grey was able to dodge the Abomination's swings, but he could only keep it up for so long. Ledi started unloading rounds into the Abomination's legs, trying to knock it off its balance.

Gunner started firing his grenade cannon at the beast, using the solid shells instead of the explosive ones to avoid hitting his friends with shrapnel. The shells slammed into the behemoth's side, knocking it a bit off balance with a groaning roar. Lycana had already recovered from her toss and was ready for blood as she charged the Abomination, leaping with a blood thirsty howl as she slammed her knife and chainsword into the Abomination's meaty back. The Abomination roared in pain as the steel teeth carved into its back, thrashing hard to get Lycana off. Gunner was having a bit of a difficult time getting a shot on the flailing monster when he heard Blake scream in pain.

Team RWBY wasn't fairing so well against their Abomination, since it was a creature they had never encountered. They may have been slow, but the hit like the trucks they crawled out of. The Abomination got a lucky hit on Blake, throwing her into one of the concrete guard posts. She was double over in pain since it was such a hard hit and the Abomination wasn't just going to let this opportunity walk away. The Abomination started shambling towards Blake, ignoring the blasts from Ember Celica, sniper rounds from Ruby and fire blasts from Weiss.

The Abomination raised a colossal fist and brought it down, Blake bracing for the fatal blow… but it never came. Instead, there was a loud clang. Blake opened her eyes to see Gunner taking the blow with his cannon, growling angrily at the Abomination.

"Get away from her!" Gunner barked as he pushed the Abomination off. He leveled his cannon and started blasting his shells at the beast. The solid shells slammed into the Abomination, again and again, causing dents in the Abomination's body, breaking several of the bones and causing it to crumble. Gunner continued to fire until his belt ran out, to which he reloaded with the fragmentation shells. He proceeded to fire those shells until the broken Abomination was shredded into its smoky form. Gunner proceeded to drop his weapon and ran to Blake's side, checking if she was okay.

"Blake! Are you okay?" Gunner questioned as he practically cradled her in his arms. Blake looked up at him with a smile and a bit of tears in her eyes. Gunner threw himself between her and the Grimm to save her. He care that deeply about her that he purposely stood between her and death. She reached up and caresses his cheek.

"I am now." Blake replied, still unable to believe what just happened. She wanted desperately to kiss him right then and there, but reality set in when Grey shouted from across the depot. He was currently between the hands of the two armed side, holding off being crushed while Lycana and Ledi tried to gain its attention.

"I'd hate to interrupt the adorable moment… BUT I NEED A BIT OF HELP!" Grey screamed as his knees started to shake. Gunner made sure Blake was okay before grabbing his cannon and charging the Abomination, carefully firing a frag round so the Grimm would drop Grey. The Grimm roared in pain as she shrapnel tore into it, giving Lycana a chance to jump onto its back and drove her chainsword into its neck. The teeth shredded the Grimm's neck, the hunk of dark meat falling to the ground as the body started to disintegrate into smoke. Across the depot, the others were faring well against their Abomination counter parts.

Mel, Huh, Unahk and Vael were beating their Abomination down. Mel and Huh were using their flamethrower weapons to cook the Abomination while Vael was using his assault rifle in single fire mode, ensuring that his rounds struck the same spot on the Abomination's head. Unahk was busy driving around the Abomination, swinging her sword at the Grimm's legs while avoiding the flames. The Grimm roared and thrashed in the fire, getting pissed off about being cooked alive. Huh decided to finish the beast off, charging through the flames without concern. He leapt at the Grimm with his power gauntlet raised at the creature.

The Abomination turned towards Huh, and was met with the gauntlet, taking the Grimm's head clean off. Romanum's group was doing perfectly against the Abomination, Sanginia and Tenebra working in perfect tandem. Their strikes were perfectly timed to keep the Abomination on the defensive while Romanum held up his cane and chanted. His chant seemed to work since the two individuals were working in perfect harmony, slicing the Grimm apart. Tenebra was the one that delivered the final blow, pulling her pistol out and firing a blast into the top of the Abomination's head.

The Grimm stumbled a bit before collapsing and turning into smoke. Everyone was panting hard, exhausted from the hard fight against the beasts, both seen and new.

"What… the hell… was that!?" Weiss barked in anger. They were just attacked by a massive Grimm with zero knowledge on how to take it down or anything about it. Weiss was a tad pissed off.

"Those were… Abominations." Grey coughed, wiping his mouth to cover up any blood that was leaking form his mouth. "One of the first generations to become Imposters… but they genetic addition didn't take… and they mutate into those things."

"So… what are they? Muscle?" Yang questioned as she straightened herself from panting.

"Pretty much. They're usually used for heavy mining operations. To see them outside of the mines is a… a rare occurrence." Huh answered as he changed out the napalm canister on his flamethrower. Everyone started to reload their weapons in the event of another attack.

"We must be getting close. No reason they would be sending such… behemoths at us. We're on the right track." Romanum declared happily as he spun his cane in his hand. His team had been trying to find the Imposter Hive for quite some time, so the fact they were facing the Hive's muscle meant they were hot on the trail. He announced "Let's get back everyone, I'm sure you're all tired and hungry… I know I am."

Everyone was in agreement and they started shambling back to their airship, happy to be heading back from such a long day.

 **A/N:** Hello everyone! Apologies for the wait. Life has been pretty hectic. Regardless, the chapters shall not stop! Feel free to review, or PM any questions comments or concerns. Until next time!

-Chief


	6. Chapter 6: Relaxation

Chapter 6: Relaxation

The group was taking a well-deserved break after their last mission. Dealing with Abominations, especially when you have no knowledge on the Grimm you are fighting. At the moment, everyone was happy to be alive and having a breather. Romanum gave them a break, saying no classes or study, so they could catch their breath. Gunner and Blake were in their usual spot, taking up a couch with Blake's head buried in Gunner's neck while watching a movie.

Huh and Ruby were also there, but they were in the love seats, trying to ignore the lovey dovey couple. Grey and Yang were currently in a team pool match against Mel and Ledi. Sanginia and Unahk were sitting in the library section, Shonkor sitting on Unahk's shoulder as she read. Vael, Tenebra and Lycana were all in their rooms, Lycana being the only one with company since Weiss chose to spend her free time with Lycana. All in all, it was a pretty relaxing day.

Then an announcement came over the speaker from Romanum.

"All members, report to the Command Section." Romanum announced, everyone jumping up. The quickly headed to the Command Section, finding Romanum in his usual place over everyone else. The only one absent from the meeting was Lycana, who was currently chained to her wall. He smiled as he replied "Last night, all of you encountered a large threat, one that isn't normally seen outside the Brood. All of you handled it well, better than I could have ever hoped. For that, I'm giving all of you a pass into the town. Team, I want you to watch out for Team RWBY since it is an unfamiliar town. Someone put Lycana's collar on and go have some fun."

He pulled the shock collar from his pocket and tossed it, Weiss being the one to catch it. She felt comfortable enough with Lycana to put her collar on her. The group walked out, a few of them cheering and laughing a bit as they headed for the elevator. Blake however, stopped Gunner, holding his hand and keeping him about the center of the room.

"Gunner, how about we… stay in?" Blake suggested as she pulled him close, wrapping her arms around his. Gunner blushed a bit since his arm was settled nicely in the center of her chest.

"Yeah… sure…" Gunner answered as he kissed her forehead. He turned to the group, which had stopped to see what the two were up to. He called "I think we'll just stay in. Relax a bit."

"Alright bro, have fun. Remember to pull out." Grey joked as he patted his shoulder. The others chuckled while Weiss went to Lycana's room with the collar, which also had her room chain key along with the shock collar remote. She walked in, seeing Lycana sitting at the table with their chess game still set up.

"So, what's with the collar, job?" Lycana questioned as she stood up for Weiss to undo her collar. Weiss used the key and took Lycana's collar off. She could see the dark red marks from the collars on her neck and who knows how long she had to deal with that. She instinctively reached out and caressed the marks on Lycana's neck, the wolf jumping back a bit.

It was weird that someone actually seemed to care about her. Almost immediately since she joined the Deathwatch, most treated her like an outsider, even the team here. They did their best, but most were still afraid of her. Weiss was the only one that seemed to warm up to her and not see her as an immediate threat.

"That… looks like it hurt." Weiss added as she took a step closer to Lycana.

"Just… just a bit…" Lycana responded as she touched the marks herself.

"Romanum gave us the night off and says we're allowed to go into town. I'll be the one handling your collar." Weiss answered as she held the collar out to her. Lycana nodded and took the collar, putting it on like she had a thousand times before.

"So, a night on the town…" Lycana sighed as the collar came online with a beep. That's when the predatory smile returned to her face as she licked her lips. "We… are gonna have some fun."

Weiss swallowed a bit as Lycana passed her, the wolf tail brushing the underside of her dress as she did. Weiss sighed and followed her, spotting Blake and Gunner back on the couch. The two headed for the elevator, finally leaving them alone.

Once they were by themselves, Blake paused the movie and sat up, leaving Gunner's shoulder. Gunner looked at her with a confused look since she would sit like that for hours.

"Is everything okay?" Gunner questioned as he sat up.

"Yeah, there's just… something I wanted to show you…" Blake sighed as she sat up straight. She reached up and pulled the bow from her ears, revealing them to Gunner. If they were going to be together, especially since she kinda wanted to be intimate with him. She waited for his reaction, looking away in case he thought she was repulsive. What happened was something else entirely.

Gunner reached up and started scratching between her ears, causing her to start to purr. She started to lean into him as he wrapped an arm around her until her head buried itself back into her shoulder. She smiled as she hugged him, nuzzling his shoulder happily.

"So… this doesn't bother you?" Blake questioned, even though she already knew the answer to it.

"No, it doesn't. I like cats." Gunner chuckled as he wrapped her arms around her. Blake sighed happily again, caressing his large, well defined chest. She curled her fingers up and thought about making a jump in their relationship. She suddenly stood up again and headed for the bedrooms. Gunner questioned "Where you going?"

"I'm going to take a shower. Care to join me?" Blake called as she looked over her shoulder. Gunner almost immediately shot up and ran to Blake's side, face a bright red and nearly tripping over his own feet.

"Are… are you sure?" Gunner questioned. They hadn't been together for very long and they were moving pretty fast. Gunner went on "I mean… we just started-."

Blake put a finger over his mouth and started to pull him towards the bathroom, wanting a private moment together. Once they were in, Blake let his hand go and she started to strip, taking off her vest and the ribbons around her wrists. Gunner kinda stared as she took her shirt off, revealing her dark purple bra with black straps, exposing her smooth, sleek back. Gunner pulled his shirt off as she started to remove her shoes and stockings, the heavy weapons expert unable to take his eyes off of her.

Blake looked back at him, drinking in the sight of his broad, muscular chest. She then started to pull down her shorts, Gunner's jaw following as she exposed the dark purple underwear she was wearing.

"Do you normally shower with your pants on?" Blake questioned as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Gunner shook his head and started working his pants off, his hands fumbling with the first button. He was a bit of a mess since there was a beautiful woman in her underwear just a few feet away from him. Blake smiled at his clumsiness and strode over to him, placing her hands on his.

Gunner froze as Blake started to undo his pants for him, letting them drop once she unzipped him. He immediately wrapped his arms around Blake and started to kiss her passionately. He stepped out of his pants, boots and socks and went straight into the shower, putting her back against the wall. His hands explored her back, one hand finding the back of her head while the other brushed her lower back.

Blake's hand started fumbling for the knob for the water as Gunner's tongue invaded her mouth. His taste was mind numbing as she put a hand on the back of his head as she started to fight back with her tongue. She finally found the knob and turned it, turning on the shower and dumping warm water over them as they embraced one another. Blake moaned into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of Gunner pressed up against her. Their bodies started to slide against each other, the water making both of them slick… and a little bit hotter.

Gunner was the one to take it a bit further, his hand sliding up her back and undoing her bra. Blake slid it off and tossed it aside, the wet fabric making a slapping sound as it hit the water. The two embraced one another again, pushing their chests together and grinding. Blake started moaning as he started kissing her neck, a hand sliding up and grabbing a breast.

Gunner couldn't help but groan a bit, Blake's intimate flesh feeling so soft and pliable on his hands. He was at his maximum, Blake's wet and nearly naked body was so much for him… just having his hands on her got him close. Blake slide her free hand to Gunner's boxers, doing her best to get them off, but his manhood was getting in the way a bit.

"Here… let me." Gunner insisted as he detached himself from Blake. His eyes stuck to her nearly naked body, water extenuating her gorgeous curves and making her chest pop a bit more. He was able to get his boxers off, kicking them aside as he stood completely bare for Blake.

She looked him up and down, licking her lips as she started to remove her own underwear, dropping them to her ankles and kicking them over to her bra. Gunner embraced Blake once again, shoving her back against the wall as his hands explored her body and his tongue explored her mouth. Blake broke the kiss and moaned, but asking a question at the same time.

"Gunner… are we moving too fast?" Blake moaned/ questioned. She felt a bit weird since she was naked in the shower with a man that she met barely a month ago. Blake didn't know if it was something more… or if she was just in heat.

"I don't think so." Gunner stated as he stood up straight and stared into her eyes. He cared for Blake, quite a bit actually. Anytime he was around her his heart raced and he felt almost weightless. He went on "On the Deathwatch, none of us are really expected to survive. We don't have the longest lifespans… so we kinda live as much as we can. When I'm with you… I feel more alive than ever."

Blake smiled as she cupped his cheek and kissed him, moving to his ear.

"Then let's feel alive." Blake whispered as her hand drifted southward.

O00000O00000O

The rest of the group headed into the town, all laughing and cheering as the Deathwatch headed straight for what Team RWBY could tell was the bar. They walked in and everyone started to move away, heading for the door like they were trouble. The bartender was a tall and skinny man with tanned skin and dark brown hair. He had a pompadour haircut with a thin mustache and dark brown eyes. He looked up as the group started to sit and groaned at their arrival.

"Oh great… they let you out of your cages." The bartender groaned as went under the counter for something. Team RWBY looked around, seeing that it was a bit of an odd looking bar. The bar took up most of the back wall with three shelves of different alcohols, but they were behind four glass panels. There were about twenty tables with four seats each… but all of them were bolted to the floor.

"Good to see you too, Bao. Ten bottles of the usual." Grey greeted as he responded. Most of the Watch chuckled as Bao grumbled and grabbed their drinks. He walked called over one of the serving girls, who proceeded to take the platter of drinks and started passing them out amongst the group, Ruby getting a glass of water instead of alcohol. Vael was the only one that got something more, a pile of coasters. Everyone proceeded to crack their drinks open and take a sip, Weiss and Yang being a bit cautious to sip a drink a bunch of basically suicidal criminals were drinking.

They took a sip, finding that it wasn't much different than a normal beer, but a bit fruitier than normal. The two nodded as everyone started to talk and joke.

"So, what do you think the two lover birds are up to?" Huh chuckled as he sipped his beer. He was happy for the two of them. Not a lot of people on the Deathwatch got to experience that kind of happiness, so he was happy.

"Probably leaving a few stains on the couch. They were all over each other when they got back from the mission." Mel chuckled as he ordered some fries. This was the closest they got to decent food, and that's a sad life to live.

"You think so? I mean… we just got here." Ruby questioned as she sipped her water. Sure, Blake and Gunner were cute together and they were always happy… but Ruby didn't think that Blake would move so quickly.

"Yes. Their behavior as well as desire to be alone indicated that sexual activity either will, or is, occurring." Ledi stated plainly as she drank her beer. She wasn't much of a drinker, but it was something to do in town that didn't involve shooting the place up.

"That's very… scientific." Ruby replied as she sipped her water again. Ledi was very odd to Ruby since she always answered everything in the most logical and mechanical way possible. She knew that something like that had to be the result of something. So she asked "Hey Ledi… why are you so… robotic?"

Everyone stopped their drinking, even Vael, who would take a sip of his drink and put a coaster on the top of it and then repeating the process, stopped what he was doing. Only Ledi continued her motion, taking a sip from her beer and setting it back down.

"Well, that all comes from how I arrived on the Deathwatch. It isn't a very exciting story. One day, I was at the bank with my mother when two men came in to rob the bank." Ledi answered after taking another sip. She went on "One of the men had a twitchy trigger finger… and shot me in the face."

Ledi pulled up her bottle and tapped the right side of her head, a dull thunking occurring.

"The entire right side of my face was taken off. Luckily… I had a bit of a temper. Luckily, rage kept me alive long enough to tackle my shooter, take his gun and unload it into his face." Ledi went on, taking another sip. "Then… I went after the other man… and beat him to death with the empty pistol until his head was hamburger."

Everyone was quiet other than the sounds of the bar, glasses clinking and food cooking. Ledi simply sat and continued drinking, ignoring everyone's stares of amazement. Very few people had shared their story of what got them on the Deathwatch.

"So… it was self-defense?" Yang questioned, trying to make sense of the story.

"Some called it that… but the jury called it excessive force. The fact that I beat a man to death after he surrendered and repeated until his death was enough to imprison me after my recovery."

"That's… kinda fucked up."

"It is understandable. My actions were excessive… but that does not mean that I regret them."

"That's… something." Ruby chimed in after sipping her water again. She never would have thought that was the reason Ledi was among the Deathwatch.

"After that… I decided emotion was too great a risk to have. I've voided myself of them and resorted to logic. The Deathwatch were the ones that paid for my recovery and the right half of my face was replaced with metal and a recording device eye and uplink. All in all… not my worst decision." Ledi stated as she finished off her beer. Everyone was a bit more comfortable as she finished her sentence. All of them had their reasons for joining, but none of them regretted their choices.

"Didn't think you'd actually share." Yang pointed out. Ledi seemed like the most closed off person there was on the Watch… other than Tenebra, but she was closed off from everyone.

"We've fought side by side, and that means you are entitled to a bit of my life." Ledi replied as she took a bigger gulp of her beer. She had only shared that story twice; once to Romanum when she joined so he could hear her perspective, and again with the group. But, Team RWBY had proved trustworthy and they deserved to know a bit more about the people they were working with.

"I need a smoke. Weiss?" Lycana sighed as she stood up and gestured to the door. Weiss sighed as she stood up and followed Lycana out. They went around the bar to the side where Lycana put her back against the wall as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"You know that's terrible for your health." Weiss pointed out.

"My life is terrible for my health." Lycana responded before taking a drag from her smoke. Weiss watched her pull the cigarette away, look up to the sky and let out a cloud of smoke. She took a second to look over Lycana again, only this time she wasn't terrified of her. Lycana had a very curvy figure, wide hips with a large bust that was extenuated by her small tank top that exposed her stomach and the jean short shorts that exposed most of her legs. She also wore tan combat boots that were worn and dirty from use.

Her tail swung lazily as she smoke, the same dark red color as her hair. Apparently Weiss was too caught up in checking Lycana out that she didn't notice her predatory eyes locked on her until she looked up.

"Like what you see?" Lycana chuckled as she took another drag. She chuckled as Weiss crossed her arms and looked away in a huff.

"Don't flatter yourself." Weiss replied as she turned around.

Lycana simply chuckled and continued her smoke while Weiss simply waited, feeling the weight of the trigger to Lycana's shock collar starting to feel extremely heavy. She didn't want to ever have to use it on her since she saw the scars of use and the collars on her. The thought sent a chill through her spine. So, she decided to strike up a bit of conversation.

"So, can I ask what you're doing with my underwear after our chess games?" Weiss questioned. She had lost a few pairs since they started playing strip chess… and those were basically her trophies. Lycana smirked as she tossed her finished butt to the ground and stomped it out.

"Using them. Super soft and comfortable." Lycana breathed out as she fished her thumb into her shorts waistband, pulling up the waistband of one of her pairs of panties.

"You're wearing them!?"

"Yeah, they work great as thongs."

"Give them back!"

Lycana smirked as she turned towards Weiss and started unbuttoning her shorts.

"You sure about that?" Lycana questioned as she opened the flaps of her shorts, revealing more of Weiss' underwear. Weiss felt her face light up seeing Lycana doing that… and it was also a very nice sight. Lycana chuckled "Never thought you'd go this far to get me out of my pants."

"Stop!" Weiss called as she turned away. "I didn't mean now!"

"Aw, that's no fun." Lycana grumbled as she buttoned her pants back up. She pulled out another cigarette and lit it up, leaning back against the wall. She took a drag of her smoke when an idea popped into her head. Lycana offered "Hey Weiss, how about a deal for your underwear?"

"What?"

"A deal, and I'll give back all my frilly trophies."

Weiss' face was still red as she turned back to Lycana, interested in hearing her proposal.

"Alright… I'm listening." Weiss responded as she crossed her arms.

"I give you all your underwear back, the pair I'm wearing later, for two very small, simple tasks." Lycana proposed after taking another drag.

"And they would be?"

"One, right now… flash me that cute butt of yours." Lycana offered as she stood up straight and turned towards Weiss with the predatory smile of hers. Weiss' face lit up brighter than Ruby's cloak at the very thought of doing something like that out in the open. She was mostly considering not to… but she was running dangerously low on her underwear.

"Okay… fine." Weiss sighed as she turned around, ready to show Lycana her derriere. Weiss lifted the back of her combat skirt, feeling the cool night air hit her backside. She could hear Lycana whistle.

"Hot damn. Those heels real work that ass." Lycana commented as she knelt down for a better view. Weiss had a lovely rear, very toned cheeks… very firm looking. Lycana had no idea when she'd get this view again, so she decided to immortalize the moment. She quickly pulled out her scroll and took a picture of the heiress' buttocks.

"Hey! That wasn't part of the deal!" Weiss barked as she went to snatch the scroll from Lycana's hand. Unfortunately, Lycana was a bit faster, standing up and holding the scroll over her head just out of Weiss' reach. "Give that!"

"No way!" Lycana laughed as she pushed her chest out, using her ample bust to keep Weiss at bay. There was no way on Remnant that she was going to give her scroll up. Weiss was still persistent, trying to grab the scroll and delete the accursed picture. So, Lycana took advantage of the situation, suddenly pushing her up against the wall of the bar with her arms pinned over her head. Weiss had sudden flashback to when Lycana pinned her to her bed and kissed her.

Apparently, Weiss fell back on that memory and closed her eyes, leaning in to kiss Lycana. The wolf Faunus smiled as she leaned into the kiss, lips connecting with Weiss'. This kiss was a bit more… passionate than the last time they had kissed. Before it was more forced, but this was… so much nicer than before. Definitely lasted a lot longer, Lycana releasing Weiss' arms as they fell to her hips, pulling her closer.

Weiss' arms naturally fell to Lycana's shoulders, pulling her a little bit closer to the point they were grinding against each other. The kiss finally broke and the two were both breathless, Weiss actually exhaling a bit of smoke from Lycana.

"I want you to sleep with me." Lycana whispered to Weiss. "That's the other half of my terms."

"Deal." Weiss replied without a second thought. Blake didn't have to be the only one to have a small, romantic moment with a member of the Deathwatch.

"Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Lycana was about to say something when a loud crash occurred at the front of the bar. Lycana and Weiss rushed to from to see a man had been thrown from the front of the bar through the window. The two looked in to see the Deathwatch surrounded by a group of men with Bao hiding behind the bar.

"Looks like the fun has finally started!" Lycana cheered as she went through the front door. One of the men was the first to throw a punch, but at Huh, who caught the punch and proceeded to throw the man through the remaining window. After that, all hell broke loose with Lycana tackling a man that was just in front of the door. He fell face first onto the ground with Lycana grabbing the back of his head and slamming him face first into the floor. The next one to get into a fight was Grey and Yang, taking up their boxing positions as three men charged them.

Yang ducked under a punch and delivered a powerful upper cut, sending the man flying up and back, hitting the floor with a hard thud. Grey easily took on the two that rushed him, slipping under the attacks with ease, then delivering two quick and hard strikes to the men's groins. The men both bent over from the strikes, only to have Grey deliver two hard hooks to their faces.

Next was an attack on Vael and Ledi, who were both still seated at their table doing their best to not seem like a threat. Unfortunately, two patrons grabbed them from behind and threw them to the ground. Ledi rolled with the throw and ended on her feet while Vael rolled and ended up on his stomach. Vael looked up and saw that his beer had been knocked over and spilled onto the table, and his face started to turn red.

"You… BASTARDS!" Vael roared as he charged from his position, getting to his feet and slamming his shoulder into the attacker's stomach. The attacker wasn't prepared for the sudden assault and fell to the ground, Vael starting to assault the man with punches directly to the face. It wasn't long before the man's face was a bloody mess… but still alive. Vael got up, but his rage wasn't subsided as he rushed the next attacker, knocking a punch out of the way and delivering a hard hook to the man's face. It was clear Vael had some hand to hand experience, since he proceeded to deliver several hard jabs and hooks to the man before he finally dropped him.

Ledi immediately took a boxer's stance as three men started to square up to her, ready to take her down. One man charged first, pulling a large fist back to strike her down with a single blow, but that never happened. Ledi ducked under the punch and delivered a power strike right to the man's genital regions, dropping him onto her back. She then used the man's mass and threw him into the next man, bringing both of them to the floor. The final man charged Ledi with reckless abandon, only to add to the momentum of the roundhouse kick delivered straight to the man's chest, knocking the wind straight out of him.

He dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks, gasping as he tried to catch his breath.

Sanginia was next on the attacker's list. Two of them rushing her from behind, but she expected them. Sanginia quickly grabbed two bottles and ducked under the swings, braking one bottle on the man's knee while the other landed hard against the next one's stomach. The one dropped to his knee while the other clutched his side, but Sanginia wasn't done with them yet. She took the unbroken bottle and bashed the guy clutching his side on the top of his head, dropping him.

Then she drove her knee into the nose of the other man, knocking him flat on his back.

Weiss stepped into the brawl, two men immediately coming at her. Weiss quickly threw up two solid glyphs, both of them ramming into them like they ran straight into walls. They both dropped and she sighed, unhappy to deal with such rabble.

Ruby was currently using Huh as a massive fighting pole, jumping over him to attack men that were trying to hit him from behind. At one point, she used a massive arm as a swing, putting two feet straight into one guy's chest and knocking him into another man.

The fight finally died down, the last few men turning and running since they could see that they were clearly out matched. Sanginia and Ledi managed to grab Vael by the arms as he attempted to chase them out of the bar, still enraged.

"Um… is he okay?" Yang questioned as she shook her hands out, a bit sore from bare knuckling boxing. It was weird to see the usually level-headed, OCD freak in a rage like that.

"Yeah, he just gets this way when his routines are interrupted." Grey chuckled as he approached the bar with his wallet out.

Unlucky for him, Bao shot out from behind the bar with a shotgun, pointing it directly at Grey's face. Team RWBY were prepared for more of a fight, but the Deathwatch were more relaxed about the situation.

"You idiots are the reason all the tables and stool are bolted to the floor." Bao growled as he lowered his shotgun. Grey chuckled as he pulled out several Lien cards and set them on the bar.

"Glad you don't have an itchy trigger finger." Grey chuckled as he turned around and headed for the bar. Everyone chuckled and started heading out of the bar, stepping over the groaning and unconscious attackers.

"Well, that was… interesting." Yang chuckled as they headed back to the warehouse.

"Thus, the reason we aren't allowed out too often." Sanginia sighed, happy to have a bit of outdoor fun. They hadn't had a free pass in quite a while, about five months before Team RWBY showed up.

"All in all… I'd consider tonight a success." Lycana bragged as she patted Weiss' rear. Weiss jumped a bit, forcing a squeak down so no one would look back and see what happened. They made it back to the warehouse quickly and headed down, finding that the common area didn't wreak of sex. The TV was one, but no one could spot the couple that was watching. Yang and Grey slipped over to the couch, finding Blake and Gunner cuddling on the couch, and not in the same clothes they were in previously.

Gunner was just in his pants and no shirt, while Blake was in her shorts and wearing Gunner's shirt and a bra.

"Hey you two. Have fun while we were out?" Grey questioned with a smirk as he leaned against the couch. Gunner smirked as he kissed the top of Blake's head, who purred happily.

"Just a bit." Gunner responded as he rubbed Blake's back.

"Blaaake…. Did you do something slutty?" Yang questioned as she leaned forward on the armrest.

"I wouldn't say slutty." Blake replied as she nuzzled Gunner's chest.

There were a few awws from the group, then a few yawns, and a couple of them heading to the bedrooms. Gunner and Blake got up and followed the group as everyone started to head to bed, clearly worn out from the day.

"Hey, I'm going to bunk with Gunner tonight." Blake replied as she wrapped her arms around Gunner's. Yang smirked while Weiss rolled her eyes and Ruby giggled.

"Aw, so cute. Sleep tight Blake." Ruby replied as she opened the door to Team RWBY's room. Blake waved as she entered Gunner's room.

"I… will be sleeping elsewhere too…" Weiss brought up as she went for her stuff. She grabbed her nightgown when Yang started questioning it.

"What? Where?" Yang questioned.

"Oh… just… Lycana…"

"The wolf girl? The one that always looks like she wants to eat you?" Ruby questioned, a bit concerned about Weiss' safety.

"Yeah… she's nice… and pretty…" Weiss defended as she started changing, her face also changing to a light pink.

"Okay… have fun." Ruby answered as she changed into her own pajamas.

"Make sure she bites where no one can see." Yang chuckled as she changed herself.

Weiss rolled her eyes as she headed for Lycana's room, a small smile on her face that she was actually doing this. She walked straight in, seeing Lycana already in her bed clothes, a tank top and boxers.

"Hey there. You want big spoon or little spoon?" Lycana questioned as she climbed into bed. Weiss looked over Lycana's body, the curves in her bed clothes looking a bit more… delicious.

"I… guess I could be little…" Weiss replied as she walked over to the bed. Lycana patted the edge where she would lay, and Weiss joined her with zero hesitation. Lycana quickly pulled the sheet over them and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Ha! No escape now!" Lycana lightly giggled before kissing the back of Weiss' head. Weiss sighed happily, loving the feeling of Lycana's arms around her… and her chest pressed against her back.

"Oh no… I guess I'll just have to… settle in." Weiss replied as she got herself into a comfortable position. Lycana did the same until both of them were comfortable. Weiss sighed "Goodnight, Lycana."

"Goodnight, Weiss."

 **A/N:** There you are! Apologies for the wait, but here it is! The next chapter of Deathwatch. Hopefully everyone enjoyed some background info and a bit more relationship development. Until next time!

-Chief


	7. Chapter 7: Delve Deep

**A/N:** Heyo! Apologies for the long wait (mainly for the two people that I know and bother me until I post it), but here you are! Chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Delve Deep

Gunner slowly woke up from his sleep, a few minutes before his alarm was supposed to go off. His face was buried in the black hair of his girlfriend, Blake. It had been a few days since they started sharing a room, and he couldn't have been happier. Granted, they weren't allowed to do some other stuff like cuddle on the couch as much or shower together in the morning, but it was still worth it. He was back to wearing his sweatpants while Blake went to wearing one of his shirts and her underwear. Gunner smirked as he held her close, happy that he had found someone. His hand slid up and groped her, earning a deep breath with a small moan.

"Morning Gunner." Blake sighed happily without opening her eyes. They had moved pretty quickly with their relationship, but she didn't regret anything. Besides, they were still only at second base; no need to let him have everything in one go.

"Morning Blake." Gunner replied as he kissed the side of her head, his hand still on her. Blake rolled to her back and embraced him, bringing their lips together. Gunner pressed himself to her, still groping her through her shirt. The two enjoyed their moment, until Gunner's alarm started going off. Both of them groaned as they sat up, separating from one another.

"I wish we had more time alone." Gunner groaned since he was kinda addicted to Blake. She smirked and caressed his chest.

"Well, we can call it a night early tonight. That will give us some time alone." Blake suggested.

"I like that idea."

The two got up, Blake grabbing a pair of her shorts as they exited the bedroom, finding others starting to drag themselves from their rooms. Grey shuffled by, grunting at them as he made his way to the mess hall. Yang and Ruby exited their room, stretching and groaning as they followed the growing line. Breakfast was different today, getting slightly burned pancakes with hit or miss sausage. Everyone started following in, Weiss actually being the last one to enter the room.

"Thanks for joining us, Weiss." Yang chuckled as she ate her breakfast. Weiss had been using most of her free time to hang out with Lycana, but they hadn't put a label on it like Blake and Gunner. Weiss simply rolled her eyes and grabbed hers and Lycana's breakfast, Yang spotting a few hickies on her neck. Yang laughed "Looks like you and Wolfie are having fun."

"Shut up." Weiss barked as she left the room. Everyone chuckled a bit and continued eating their breakfast. They were lucky and got another down day, using it to relax in the common area. Blake and Gunner sat on the couch together, but simply side by side instead of cuddling like they normally did. Everyone made a unanimous decision that they were to stay a bit away from each other, no cuddling on the couch and no showering at the same time. Huh and Ruby sat in the recliners and watch TV with the couple. Yang and Gray were playing a pool team match against Mel and Ledi, and they were losing badly.

Sanginia and Unahk sat in the library section reading while Vael, Lycana and Tenebra remained in their rooms.

Yang sat and watched as Ledi started to sink ball after ball, thinking it was a bit unfair since she had a super computer in her head. She looked at Gray, thinking about how they knew a good amount of the Deathwatch's history. They knew Gunner, Huh, Lycana and Vael… but nothing about Gray. So, she decided to ask.

"So, Gray, what's your story?" Yang questioned as she leaned on her pool cue. Gray simply looked out of the corner of his eye at her as he leaned against the wall.

"It's not really important… or interesting." Gray replied in a flat tone. He did not want to divulge that information just yet… or at all.

"Come on, we know almost half of the Watch's stories. Why not share yours?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Come oooooon. Pleeeeease?"

It was at that point almost everyone was silent and watching those two talk. They could see Gray's demeanor shift to a dark, almost hostile aura. He moved off his wall and faced Yang, seeing more…. Anger in his eyes.

"You want to know why I'm here? Fine. I'm here because I murdered a corrupt politician that was on the verge of starting a war between Atlas and Vale. And the only reason I killed him is because he was sleeping with me wife." Gray practically snarled at Yang. Yang was extremely taken back by this turn of events. One, that Gray was married, and two is that he killed a man for sleeping with his wife. Gray went on "Oh, and it doesn't stop there. I caught them in bed together. Great way to find out. So, I slit her throat and watched her bleed out. Then, I skinned the politician until he finally bled out."

The room was dead silent other than the TV going off in the background. Yang stared at him with wide eyes and a completely new look on Gray. She knew that the Deathwatch were all killers and criminals, but this was a completely new perspective. Gray turned away from Yang and headed back to his room, Ledi and Mel stepping out of his way. Everyone could hear his door slam and rattle, leaving everyone in a deathly silence. Mel and Ledi turned back to Yang, Mel having a look that screamed 'what have you done?'

"I… I… shit…" Yang gasped and cursed. Everyone was still in a bit of shock from Gray's sudden outburst since he was usually moderately quiet and happy. Yang immediately attempted to head for the bedrooms when Gunner called out to her.

"I would not do that if I were you." Gunner advised, stopping Yang just before she entered the bedroom hallway. He had seen Gray like this once before, and it was not a pretty picture. Gunner went on when Yang turned to him "He is now in a pretty… volatile state. The last thing you want to do is bother him."

"What would happen if I do?" Yang questioned, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Ever wonder why Lycana is a bit afraid of him?"

Yang's eyes went a bit wide in surprise since she had noticed that whenever Gray had squared up against Lycana, she would always back down. Yang could only wonder what Gray had done in that state to make Lycana, the wolf berserker that killed 20 people, to suddenly fear her.

"So… what do we do?" Yang questioned, still standing in the doorway.

"Give him a few days, leave his food in front of his door. He'll come out once he's cooled off." Gunner sighed loudly as he turned back to the TV. Yang looked back at the door with a look of worry on her face, thinking about what Gray had said and how his entire character had changed in just a brief moment. The rest of the night went relatively smoothly, Yang asking every once in a while about Gray and what she could do to help him along. She got the same answer every time, leave him be.

The next morning, everything went on as normal… only no Gray. Everyone was in the bathroom, shaving and showering when an announcement came over the intercom.

"Deathwatch! Time to mobilize! We've got a lead on a possible nest location!" Romanum announced with urgency in his voice. This had only come up once before, when they found the Imposter depot. Everyone quickly rushed to clean up and finish their morning routine, get dressed and head for the armory. Yang immediately went to Gray's door and start banging on it, but the door opened before she could slam her fist into it.

Gray looked like absolute hell. He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, his hair and clothes were horribly disheveled like he had been sleeping in them. But the dark bags under his eyes said that he hadn't slept at all. His eyes rolled in his sockets to look at Yang before he simply walked past her; not a single word was said to her or anybody. In fact, everyone avoided Gray while he was like that; immediately moving out of his way wherever he walked.

Yang decided to leave it alone and grab their weapons, Romanum already in the armory grabbing his guns.

"We are dealing with a possible Imposter Nest. Old mining system that was owned by the Schnee Dust Company, but once the mine dried up, the company abandoned it and the town it had created." Romanum briefed quickly as everyone geared up. He noted Grey's appearance as he grabbed his gauntlets from his locker, claws extending and retracting. He simply ignored Gray and went on "It seems the Imposters have set up in the mines, possibly using it either as a nest or another staging point. Either way, we need to clear the mines out of any Grimm we find."

Everyone nodded and continued gearing up, Yang keeping an eye on Grau as he loaded his pistol components. She was starting to worry about him since no one else seemed to want to talk about it. Once everyone was geared up, they headed for the airship to head on for their mission. Everyone took their seats, Yang pulling the harness down and noticing that Gray was sitting directly in front of and also staring right at her. She felt extremely uncomfortable with him staring at her like that, considering it was a dead stare, like a corpse was looking at her.

His eyes were usually brown, but right now they looked more black; dead like a doll's eyes. There was music playing over the intercom, trying to loosen them up before their fight that could lead to death. It was classical music and was clearly picked by Romanum since he had his head back, eyes closed and was humming along with the melody. The flight was a bit long, lasting almost two hours before they finally arrived at their landing zone, about 5 miles out from the suspected site. Everyone unloaded, weapons at the ready and secured the area as Four Seven Niner flew off to her designated waiting zone.

Romanum signaled for Blake, Ruby, Tenebra and Grau to scout ahead while the rest followed behind at a much slower pace. The four moved up silently through the brush, Gray taking the lead with his claws out and a determined look in his eyes. It took a bit of time for them to get to the clearing that lead to the mines. The set up was extremely basic when it came to mining operations. There were several trailers for the basic operations as well as three more home-style built houses that were probably used for the workers. There were a large number of people walking around like actual miners, moving carts and equipment.

At first glance, it seemed like a normal mining operation. But upon observing the rocks above the entrance, there were a large number of Purestrain Imposters. There were at least 20 of them hiding among the rocks acting like sentries. Ruby aimed down her sights and looked into the mine entrance, spotting at least two Generation One Imposters pushing a cart up and taking another back down into the mines.

"I've got 20 Purestrains on the rocks, at least 30 Gen 4's topside and at least two Gen 1's in the mine. We should wait for back up." Ruby advised as she put the scope away on Crescent Rose. Blake and Tenebra nodded, but Gray had other plans and he charged from their hiding spot with a massive roar.

"Gray has broken cover and engaged the enemy." Tenebra reported over the coms as Gray sliced the head off of one of the workers, black smoke pouring from the wound.

"Damn it! Move up but do not enter the mine!" Romanum ordered. He cursed as he drew his pistol and ordered "Let's move! Our scout team is engaging the enemy!"

Everyone readied their weapons and started pushing forward, already hearing the gunfire and the screams form the Imposters. After nearly half an hour, the rest of the group came upon the scene of a grizzly stand. The dissipating bodies of different generations of Imposters littered the ground from Purestrain all the way up to Generation Fours. Gray was currently in a standoff with two Purestrains on both sides of him, the front of his shirt covered in blood. The two Imposters charged him, Gray standing his ground as two sets of claws came down at him.

Grey dodged the swipes in a blur, swinging his claws with lightning speed as he lopped the heads of the Imposters. The Grimm corpses hit the ground, bodies already starting to dissipate as Grey coughed up quite a bit of blood. Ruby, Blake and Tenebra had taken up positions around the tree line and provided covering fire while Grey did pure melee combat.

Romanum marched up to Grey, looking furious and prepared to tear him a new one. He opened his mouth to chew him out, but a cacophony of screeches and roars echoed from the mine opening. Romanum gritted his teeth and barked orders

"Take up firing positions! Unload on the mine entrance!" He ordered as he drew his pistol. Gunner immediately began unloading shells at the entrance, hoping to either kill a ton of Imposters or collapse the entrance. Huh charged forward, hearing the shells whizzing past his head. He held up his flamethrower and filling the entrance with flames. Everyone else joined in the fire support, unleashing rounds in hopes it would be enough to bring any beast down.

It was a solid minute of firing when they finally heard the sounds of screeches and screams, black smoke starting to pour out of the mouth of the mine. After another few seconds, the sounds of cracking and crumbling earth filled the clearing with quick screeches from the Imposters. The mouth of the mine collapsed into a cloud of dust and rocks, everyone that was near shielded themselves. Everyone recovered and looked at the mountain side, seeing that they had accomplished their goal as black smoke seeped from the cracks in the rocks.

Everyone sighed in relief and reloaded their weapons, Romanum holstering his pistol and going up to Grey once more to chew him out. Unfortunately, he didn't get his chance as there was a dull thud and some of the rocks started to shift. Everyone looked at the rockslide with unease, praying that something didn't survive that near avalanche. The thud came again, and again, until something finally broke free. A large, black Imposter arm broke through the rockslide. The arm was at least 6 foo in length as the rest of the beast pushed through the rocks.

"Broodlord!" Romanum barked as he started to unload his pistol as the rest of the Grimm emerged from the rocks and dust. The Grimm was at least 15 feet tall and looked like a massive Purestrain, except its head was more armored. Everyone began to unload rounds into the massive beast, and the blasted Grimm simple shrugged most of it off, except for Gunner. The Grimm turned towards him after figuring out that he was the one that was blasting him with grenades.

The Broodlord shrieked at him and charged at him, Gunner having a panicked looked as the beast raised a massive clawed hand to crush him. He rolled out of the way as the claws speared the ground, sending rocks and dirt flying. Grey roared as he charged the beast, claws raised and blood pouring from his mouth. He dashed under a side swipe and clawed at the wrist, then slicing the thigh as he jumped and slashed at it. Blake joined the assault, firing her pistol at the beast's face and front flipping over the second, more humanlike hand that side swiped at her. Blake drew Gambol Shroud and its sheath and began to slice at the hand and legs like Grey was doing, only without as much animal ferocity.

Yang charged Ember Celica and joined in the onslaught at the massive Grimm's legs to bring it down. The Broodlord screeched hard, splitting a few ears as the faunas of the group covered their ears in pain; the register a bit high for normal people, but not them. Blake ended her assault and dropped her weapon, grabbing her human ears and screaming in pain as he dropped to her knees. Lycana was in the midst of charging when she stumbled and slammed face first as she grabbed her wolf ears. She curled up into the fetal position as she howled in pain.

"Sanginia! Psych it down!" Romanum commanded as he unloaded his pistol at the beast. Sanginia closed her eyes and held up her sword, the blade starting to glow. She was planning on striking the beast with a psychic blast, but something happened. The Broodlord turned towards Sanginia and its eyes flared a bright orange and pain tore through her entire body. She dropped to her knees and started to cough, a bit of blood coming up with it. Romanum cursed as he ran to her side "It has psychic powers! Careful!"

Ruby ran to the far edge of the camp and drove her scythe blade into the ground and took aim for the Broodlord's face. She started firing and slamming bullets into the beast's armored head, rounds either bouncing off or lodging themselves into the white carapace. The Broodlord roared in pain and grabbed its face as Ruby finally clicked empty and the beast stumbled, one leg buckling from the strikes at its legs. Blake finally came to, grabbing her weapons and leaving as a large clawed hand came down where she was just moments ago. Huh took the opportunity to charge the beast as its forehead slammed into the dirt. He reared back that massive power fist on his arm and slammed it into the side of the beast's head, knocking it aside and onto its shoulders with several fangs knocked from its evil skull.

Grey took the next step and grabbed the two canine fangs with two feet on its bottom jaw. He roared as he started to lift and the beast started to groan from the punch. Everyone watched as Grey started to hoist the beast's head into the air, the Broodlord groaning as it finally started to come to. Just as the beast started to come to, Gray gave a massive snarling roar as he lifted with all of his might… and tore half of the Broodlord's face off. The skull fractured just behind the eyes where the skull was the weakest, the skin still holding as Gray stepped back and the face fell limp and the eyes died almost immediately.

Grey roared in triumph as the Broodlord turned to smoke and vanished into the sky, its evil dissipated until it reformed into a new shape. Grey paced around, his shirt and lower jaw covered in blood, he was snarling with his claws extended like a predator searching for a new kill. Yang decided that she had enough of him going berserk and moved up to him, eyes starting to turn red. He turned, only to meet Yang's fist colliding with his jaw, knocking him onto his hands and knees.

"You need to COOL. OFF." Yang barked as Grey spat out a mouthful of blood.

Grey panted a bit as his mind slowly started to come back to him. It seems the punch knocked him out of his rage induced haze. He groaned as his stomach tightened up on him, feeling that he pushed himself just a bit further than he was used to.

"You done?" Yang barked at him, hoping he had his senses back. Grey finally rose to his feet, wiping his mouth off and he groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah… I'm done… thanks…" Grey groaned as he straightened himself out. Everyone gathered around the spot where the Broodlord was slain.

"Well… another successful mission, and another new threat neutralized. Well done everyone… take a breather, I'll call in Niner." Romanum sighed as he rolled his shoulders. He called in their ride, the airship landing in the center of the clearing. The ride was pretty silent, since almost everyone was worn out from the fighting they were experiencing earlier. They returned to their base, and everyone agreed to hit the showers for a rinse off. Half the team waited while the others rinsed off, the couples immediately separated for obvious reasons. Yang, Grey, Weiss, Gunner, Huh, Unahk and Mel waited while Ruby, Blake, Lycana, Sanginia, Vael and Ledi showered.

"Hey… Yang." Grey grumbled. She turned to look at him, a flash of red in her eyes showing she was still a bit pissed at him. He sighed "Thanks for… getting me out of that… state. It's just… when I bring up my past… it just…"

"Hey, I get it. Sometimes, the past brings up a lot of emotions; and sometimes… it consumes you." Yang replied as she cut him off. She knew all too well of how your emotions could take over and drive you into a frenzy. She patted his thigh as she sighed "Just… glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back."

"Ugh, are we going to need to separate you two?" Lycana groaned as she stepped out of the shower, still dripping and nude. Everyone chuckled, except for Weiss, who immediately wrapped a towel around her wolf girlfriend. Lycana chuckled and looked at Gunner, exclaiming "Oh, and by the way… dibs on the shower before you and kitten decide to get freaky."

"Darn, and I had such a romantic idea for me and my girlfriend in the shower." Gunner chuckled as everyone started to exit the shower. Everyone swapped and started cleaning off while the others went to their rooms, except Lycana, who waited on Weiss to get done. Yang looked back at Grey, who was cleaning his chest, and started to admire his toned back and legs, and admittedly, rear.

"Eyes up, Yang!" Lycana called from the waiting area. Yang quickly looked forward as everyone looked at her. Everyone cleaned up and headed for their rooms, except Weiss and Lycana since they wanted to have a bit of shower fun.

 **A/N:** There you have it. Apologies for the wait, and against popular opinion I am not dead. I have just been very busy. Hopefully you enjoyed the long awaited chapter and you will be getting more sooner than you got this. PM for any thoughts, comments or concerns. Until next time.

-Chief


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